


Find Your Way Home

by Surrealx3



Series: Where the Heart Is [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avenger Loki, Baby left at doorstep cliche, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Odin's Bad Parenting, Parent Tony Stark, Pre-Avengers (2012), Pre-Iron Man 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 28,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8550838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Surrealx3/pseuds/Surrealx3
Summary: Jarvis chimed in, “Sir, the woman has left.” Tony barely had time to let out a sigh of relief before Jarvis continued, “But she left the child.”“Oh no,” Tony jogged to the door and yanked it open. There, in a stroller, was a baby that couldn’t be more than a month old in a baby blue onesie. “No, no, no, no, Jarv, please tell me there’s not a baby on my doorstep."“Actually, sir, that is exactly what’s on your doorstep.”





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> This was completely and utterly self-indulgent and I wasn't even going to post it until I realized it wasn't all that bad. I just wanted Tony Stark to be a dad. And Loki to be, like, stepdad? So this happened...
> 
> Warning: Strong Language in the beginning

Stark Industries was a household name. After they stopped manufacturing weapons, they went on to security systems and day to day technology. They were undoubtedly the best in the business thanks to the genius of Tony Stark. The odd thing was, no one had heard or seen the Stark heir in sixteen years, since he dropped off the grid. All his interactions in SI was in-house, he no longer attended any of the yearly charity events, and the face of the company became Pepper Potts. Tony Stark fell off the radar completely… then the aliens came.

# 16 Years Earlier

“Sir, there is a woman at the door.”

Tony sat up, eyes bleary with sleep. His sleep tussled hair was almost as unflattering as the rumbled suit he was wearing. All-in-all, he looked like he had spent the night in a dryer. Felt like it too with the hangover he was nursing. He tried to stand but wobbled on his feet. He took a minute to lean on the bar, waiting for his legs to get back online. “Who.”

Jarvis answered, “A scan indicates that she is one of your former one night stands, sir.”

Tony muttered, “Fuck.”

“Sir, it may be pertinent to mention that she is holding a child.”

 “Fuuuuuuck,” Tony groaned. “Jarv, get Pepper on the phone.”

A minute later, he heard Pepper ask, “Tony? What’s wrong?”

“There’s a one-night stand at my door holding a baby. Can you, I don’t know, get a legal team or something ready? Set up a discreet DNA test or,” he swallowed a sudden surge of vomit. “Fuck, I don’t know. Give her a house in Hawaii.”

“Oh god, Tony. Okay, get a DNA sample first and I’ll make sure the PR team is on top of whatever she tells the media. I’ll be there in a couple hours. Don’t do anything stupid.”

 “You know me, Pep.” He heard her sigh, which, fair enough. He didn’t exactly mean that as reassurance.

As soon as she hung up, Jarvis chimed in, “Sir, the woman has left.” Tony barely had time to let out a sigh of relief before Jarvis continued, “But she left the child.”

“Oh no,” Tony jogged to the door and yanked it open. There, in a stroller, was a baby that couldn’t be more than a month old in a baby blue onesie. There was a baby bag hanging onto the stroller but nothing else. “No, no, no, no, Jarv, please tell me there’s not a baby on my doorstep.”

“Actually, sir, that is exactly what’s on your doorstep” was the snarky reply.

“Not helping, J.” He glanced around, hoping that the mother was still nearby but there was no one. Apparently, she just took off without even seeing if he’d come out. Even he knew that was bad parenting.

 A sneeze drew his attention back to the child sitting in the stroller, a crumpled note clutched in its tiny hand. With one last look back, he pushed her inside and closed the door. Then he turned his attention on the note. “Hey, little guy, or uh, girl. Mind if I see that?”

The baby just blinked at him with huge brown eyes like a newborn fawn. “Uh, here, I’ll just…” he reached for the paper and tried to pull it gently but at the baby broke into tears the moment it felt the tug. It wailed loudly. The sound was hellish for his hangover. Tony asked, panicked, “Jarvis, what do I do? How do I make it stop?”

“I believe simply calming methods such as picking them up and rocking would be effective. Make sure to use one hand to support the neck and hand while the other slides under its bottom and hips. Hands should be spread apart to offer proper support.”

“Right,” Tony hesitated but followed his instructions. It was strange, feeling an entire body in his arms. He couldn’t remember the last time he held a breathing thing that didn’t have curves and at least a C cup. He rocked his body awkwardly, just going for some type of movement that didn’t seem too panicked. It took what felt like ages for the child to calm down but when they did, Tony exhaled a sigh of relief. “Okay, buttercup, down you go.”

That was the wrong move. Every attempt to put her down ended in screams and sent Tony reeling. He sighed and sat down, still holding her against him. “You know what, I’m still tired and you’re not going to stop me from getting sleep so,” Tony held her to his stomach while he rotated so he was laying on his back. The baby seemed perfectly content to lay on his chest so Tony closed his eyes, just to get a wink of sleep.

His eyes snapped open hours later when he heard his name being called. Pepper’s stilettos clacked all the way into the room. He shushed her harshly, glancing down at the sleeping baby on his chest.

Pepper came to an abrupt stop, startled by his shushing and the scene before her. She whispered, “Tony, what happened to the mother?”

He sighed and said in a low voice, “I don’t know. She disappeared by the time I got out there.”

“So what’re you going to do with the baby?” she asked, pretty reasonably.

Tony sighed. “I don’t know. First, let’s get the DNA test.”

Pepper seemed dubious but nodded, “Is it a boy or girl?”

Tony shrugged again, “Didn’t have time to check. Can you get the note out of their hand?”

Pepper nodded and gingerly pried the note out of the infant’s hand. She smoothed it and read, “’This is Moriana. She’s a beautiful baby girl that was born on June fifth. I wish I could keep her but I’ve been diagnosed with postpartum psychosis and I have no one I can trust to take care of her. I hope that you, as her father, care enough to make sure she grows up in a loving home.’ It looks like she was going to write more but she was frustrated or something. God, Tony, I feel awful just looking at it. I feel so sorry for her.”

“Yeah,” Tony rubbed Moriana’s back thoughtfully. “Pep, I think I owe it to her to raise Moriana.”

He saw her lips part, ready to argue against it because he’s too young and immature. He’s still mid-twenties and his drinking is still gaining speed. He’s a public image with a reputation for being a mess. But she hesitated. Then asked, “What would you give up for her?”

Tony chuckled, “Not much.” Her face fell. “Just the life a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. And alcohol.” He smiled reassuringly, “It’s really not much. We’ll drop off the radar. Go somewhere quiet for a while until people forget about me. Then, I guess, we’ll see. Jarvis, look at some land in a nice, Christian suburb. You know, somewhere where they hate me. Tony Stark is restarting his life as a daddy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In flies a magical nanny to teach a young child how to use her gift.

# 11 Years Before the Invasion

“Daddy,” Mori sailed over him.

“Daddy, look at this,” she did a flip in midair.

“Daaaaaaaddy,” she whined, reclined, floating through air. “I’m bored.”

She flipped upside down and stared at him, eye to eye, her short brown hair freefalling. She grabbed his cheeks with her chubby hands and kissed his nose. “Daddy.”

“Honey, please,” Tony sighed, pushing away the holographic display, “Daddy needs to have this done by tonight or Aunt Pepper is going to kill daddy.” He pulled her down into his lap. Sometimes, he wondered when his life got so weird. He kind of put it at when she was three and floated up to get a cookie when he distinctly remembered saying no more cookies. But weird stuff happened way before then. Things disappeared, weird things appeared, she would be in one place one minute and somewhere else the next. He had approximately two minutes to be amazed before he realized how much harder this made parenting.

“But daddy,” she pouted, “I’m bored.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Tony glanced at his phone and decided, “We’re going to the mall. Get dressed, kiddo.”

“Yayyyy,” she cheered all the way out the door.

Tony inquired to Jarvis, “Are her toys losing their effectiveness?”

Jarvis replied, “It seems so, sir. I recommend purchasing more Legos. She has expressed a desire to enlarge Mori-land.”

“She’s going to turn the entire house into Mori-land at this rate.”

“Isn’t it already?”

The wry response made Tony sputter and laugh, “You’re right about that, Jarv. Definitely right about that.”

When Mori came down, dressed in a purple t-shirt and little sparkly jeans, they left out. She was bouncing with excitement the entire drive. Tony couldn’t help feeling a little guilty since the source of her excitement wasn’t things. It was people. She hardly interacted with anyone beyond him, Jarvis, Rhodey and Pepper. He couldn’t let her go to kindergarten or a day care with the whole floating thing going on. Even if she tried to control it, a sneeze could send her ten feet into the air. Once they arrived, Tony had her recite the outside rules: No floating, no talking about floating, running off, no following strangers, and no stealing.

The mall was more packed than usual. It took Tony longer than he’d want to admit to realize that it was Saturday. He didn’t know why he didn’t immediately think to grab her hand. She was chattering away beside him like a steady stream and his mind wandered off to the designs he was supposed to have ready for Pepper. It took him far too long to realize that he didn’t hear her anymore. This was exactly why he had a tracker put under her skin the moment she learned how to walk. Tony whipped out his phone and pulled up her location. She was still in the store (thank goodness) but on the other side of it.

When he made it to where she was, he found her talking to a man. He was taller than Tony with pale, alabaster skin and piercing green eyes. He was dressed in olive green button up shirt and jeans but his entire demeanor yelled that it was all for show. Like he was just playing at being a commoner. None of this seemed to bother Mori though, who just grinned up at him and motioned dramatically.

“Mori,” he called, drawing her attention. He ran over to her and swept her up, showering her face in kisses. “I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention.”

“Daddy,” she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Mr. Loki was waiting with me.”

“Yeah?” he smiled politely at ‘Mr. Loki.’ “Thanks, Mr. Loki.”

“Just Loki, please. And it was a pleasure,” Loki seemed to be just as critical of Tony, eyes showing a distinct amount of judginess. “You have a very interesting daughter, Mr…?”

“Carbonell. Tony Carbonell. But you can call me Tony. What makes my daughter so interesting?” He instinctively held Mori a bit tighter.

Loki glanced around, lips pursed in displeasure. “Perhaps we can have this conversation somewhere less crowded. Perhaps over dinner?”

“Uh,” Tony’s eyes widened, “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“No, of course not,” Loki snapped defensively, “I’m simply hungry and this is not conversation to be had while standing among mortals crawling all over each other like ants.”

Mori frowned, “Ew.”

“Yeah, not the most appetizing imagery,” Tony agreed. “Why don’t we go down to Olive Garden?”

“Yeah,” Mori took it upon herself to ask, “Loki, do you want to go to Olive Garden? They have good breadsticks.”

Loki nodded solemnly, “I will give these breadsticks a try.”

“Great,” Tony moved to put Mori down but she shocked him by screeching, “No,” and holding on tighter. She pushed her face flush against his neck. He could feel her breathing quicken, her small chest working double time to fight down a panic attack. He felt like one of his worst nightmares just came to life and he couldn’t even shed the tears that prickled in the corner of his eye. He just held her tighter, murmuring things like, “it’s okay, daddy’s here,” and “daddy’s never going to let you go.”

When he looked up, Loki was watching them closely, his eyes battling between soft and curious. He smiled thinly, “Why don’t we get out of here?”

“Yes, of course,” Loki followed him out the mall. Olive Garden was just a few doors down so it barely took anytime to walk there. By some work of magic, they were seated quickly. Tony kept Mori in his lap, one arm winded tight around her.

After they ordered their drinks and Mori set out to conquer the kids’ menu, Tony set his attention on the reason why they were there. “So Loki. What’s so interesting about my daughter?”

 “There’s more than I can recount,” Loki admitted thoughtfully, “But what I wanted to discuss with you is her aptitude for bending seidr to her will.”

“Seidr?” Tony stared at him, “And that is?”

“Well, to put it in terms you can understand, magic.”

The waitress came by with their drinks while Tony processed that. Once she left, Tony asked intently, “Why are you interested?”

“As a mage, I cannot, in good conscious, leave her with so little control and a father who knows nothing of how to handle growing power. In exchange for food and shelter, I will teach her control.”

Tony was taken back by the offer. “You’re offering to be her nanny?”

Loki glared at him, “No, you fool, I am offering to be her mentor.

“But live-in mentor. Who’ll kind of be a babysitter when I need one. So like, magic nanny? Nanny McPhee.” Tony grinned, “Yes, you’re Nanny McPhee. Here exactly when I need you then you’ll fly off to whatever magic place you came from when your job is done.”

Even while Loki tried to be annoyed, something else bothered him more. “You don’t doubt my intentions or abilities?”

“You’re offering to teach my daughter magic for nothing but food and a place to crash,” Tony clarified, grinning. “I’m pretty sure anyone else would be trying to wring as much money as possible out of me. Either you’re a really talented mage with no need for money or you just need somewhere to crash and have experience with magic shenanigans. Either way, I could use your help.”

“Daddy,” Mori patted his cheek to get his attention.

“Yes, buttercup?”

“Mr. Loki is going to live with us?”

Tony looked up at Loki, “Well, Mr. Loki. Are you?”

Loki looked between the two, gnawing on his lip. “I’m starting to think I’m involving myself in something even I don’t understand.”

Tony barked a laugh, “You have no idea. So Lokes, why don’t you tell us about yourself?”

While Loki gave him a watered down summarization of his life (lives with his parents and brother, hates his brother’s friends, from somewhere far away), the waitress came by with breadsticks and took their order. Mori dropped her crayons in favor of sticking a breadstick in her mouth. Tony and Loki’s eyes met over her head and they laughed.

By the end of the dinner, Tony felt refreshed. It felt weirdly good to have another adult around. It wasn’t like he had many friends before Mori but now that the three were so busy with different things, it felt like he had none at all past that one nice old lady that worked at the grocery store. And Loki was obviously incredibly smart and interested in his work (even Rhodey couldn’t sit through one of his science rants) and not hard on the eyes.

Loki joined them in the car afterwards since apparently he had nothing he needed to bring along with him. Mori, for all her excitement, was out like light the second Tony started the car. They drove in comfortable silence for a bit. Then Loki said, “If you don’t mind me asking, where’s Mori’s mother?”

The question wasn’t surprising. “She got postpartum psychosis after Mori was born. She uh, committed suicide a while ago.”

“Oh,” the sound was full of pity, though he couldn’t tell who it was for. “It must have been hard for both of you.”

Tony shrugged and admitted shamefully, “I didn’t suffer in the least. I never really knew her. She was just a one-night stand before Mori appeared at my door. I didn’t even try to visit her. I wish I did more help. I was just an idiot who thought taking care of Mori would be enough.”

“How much is known of this ailment you speak of?” Loki inquired.

“Not much,” Tony admitted. “There’s people researching it now but there hasn’t been much progress. We don’t know why giving birth would cause psychosis or how to treat it.”

“Then you, a man she hardly knew, showing moral support and reminding her of the child she couldn’t properly care for wouldn’t have helped much, would it?”

Tony blinked at the blunt rebuttal, “I guess not, if you put it that way.”

“That is simply how it is, isn’t it? She didn’t want your help or pity. She simply wanted someone to take care of her child and make sure she grew up happily.”

“Oh,” Tony said. “I’ve been an idiot, haven’t I?”

“You have,” Loki smiled.

Tony found himself smiling back. “Well thank goodness I have my new magic nanny to look after me.”

“What foolishness,” Loki huffed. “I am not a nanny.”

When they made it home, Tony introduced Loki to Jarvis and grinned at his expression of pure amazement. Loki followed Tony into Mori’s room, asking questions but they came to an abrupt stop at the sight of Mori-Land.

“Incredible,” he breathed, stepping over to the desert to see the drawings Mori made of snakes and birds. “She’s so young but has such an eye for detail.” He hoovered over to the city and Stark Tower, “Why did she pick this tower in particular while the others are purely from imagination?”

“Oh, uh, her aunt works and lives there,” Tony replied hesitantly. “Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries.”

“I see,” Loki hummed. He grabbed Tony’s hand and led him out the room. “There’s magic in this house that’s not purely seidr.” He graced Tony with a small, happy smile. “You provide her with magic that inspires her to create. Usually, infants with access to seidr destroy but you give her a different perspective. You give her chaos form.”

“Oh,” Tony blinked at him, “Really?”

Loki said with approval, “You’re really are impressive, Carbonell.”

“Tony, please,” he practically begged. “My friends call me Tony.”

Loki thought about it, “Is Tony really your name?”

“Sir’s given name is Anthony,” Jarvis chimed in.

“Well there we go,” Loki grinned mischievously, “Why don’t you show me to my room, Anthony?”

Tony glared at the nearest camera. “Really, J? You’re going to sell daddy out like that?”

“Apologies, sir. I’ll hold my tongue next time.”

Loki laughed, “Your invisible servant is so fascinating and full of life. Norns, out of all the places on Midgard, I would have never believed the most fascinating would be hiding in such a dull town.”

Although Tony had no idea what caused the sudden surge of cheerfulness, he was happy to go along with it, smiling just as wide. “Midgard? Is that the word for earth where you come from? Are you an alien or something?”

“Or something,” Loki replied with a sly smile. “Show me to my room, cretin.”

Tony rolled his eyes playfully, “Right away, your majesty.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mori's first lesson in magic.

The next day, Tony sat in for Loki’s first lesson with Mori and he was more than a little shocked when Loki asked, “How do you float?”

Tony sputtered, “Don’t you know? You’re supposed to be the all-powerful mage here.”

He went silent at Loki’s deadly glare. “Yes, I know in theory but I don’t know what she practices. As a mage whose power grew through reading and learning from my mother, I am fascinated by how a young mage with no knowledge of the arts learned how to do something as difficult as floating.”

“Oh,” Tony smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Loki huffed and turned back to Mori. “So how do you float?”

“I just,” Mori made some complicated movements with her hands that meant absolutely nothing to either of them. “Like that.”

Tony and Loki just stared at her, baffled. Jarvis felt the need to chime in, “You’re talking to a five-year-old.”

Loki nodded, conceding the point. “Okay, allow me to rephrase. Mori, when you float, how do you go up?”

“Oh, I uh,” Mori opened and closed her stubby fingers. “I tell the air to send me up.”

“As I suspected,” Loki nodded, “She uses elemental methods. While it’s not unusual, it is particularly difficult. My guess would be since she was born in a place with little seidr, she latched onto the greatest power source to supplement. Mori, do you ever go up on accident?”

She nodded shyly, “When I’m imagining things and the air does what I imagine. Is that bad?”

“Not necessarily,” Loki said thoughtfully, “It means you are very skilled. However, it also means that it’s very important that you learn how to focus. Here,” Loki opened his hand and let green energy swirl into a little ball the size of his palm. “Keep this swirling or it will disburse.”

Both Mori and Tony stared at the ball with wide eyes. Mori put her hand out to touch it but her finger went right through and a chill went up her spine.

“Can you feel the tendrils spinning?” Loki asked. “Don’t focus on the entire ball. Focus on the seidr bringing it to life.”

“Ah, uh,” Mori examined the ball, her hands hovering over it. “Ah, mmm,” she nodded taking the ball from Loki’s hand. The second Loki pulled his hand back though, it began to fall apart. Mori made a little noise of shock and swirled her hand over it, clumsily drawing it back together in a little distorted sphere. She grumbled angrily and sat there, focusing on the ball, hand swirling over it steadily.

Loki gave Tony a look that said ‘come on’ and inched out the room. Tony followed silently, motioning for Jarvis to take as many pictures as possible. Tony closed the door and said excitedly, “She’s so talented. What do we give her when she masters it?”

Loki snorted and laughed, “You reward her for a task she hasn’t even accomplished.”

“She will because my little girl can do whatever she puts her mind to. Did you see her? She’s doing such a good job already.” Tony was practically bouncing. “This is great. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Loki stared at him, his mouth slightly open in amazement.

“What?” Tony asked, “Did I say something wrong?”

Loki shook himself out of it, “No, no, I’m just surprised. That isn’t a sentiment shared by many.”

Tony clapped his shoulder cheerfully, “Well the sentiment is everywhere in this house, isn’t that right, Jarv?”

“Of course, sir. It is a huge relief to have Mr. Loki here.”

Loki smiled gratefully. “Please, Jarvis, just Loki. Or Odinson if you must. Mr. Loki sounds so strange.”

“Mr. Odinson then,” Jarvis concluded warmly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mori learns that learning is a work in progress. Any progress is good progress.

“I will be taking Moriana to the park today,” Loki announced after bringing Tony breakfast in his lab.

 Tony choked on his toast.

Tony downed some orange juice and shook his head frantically, “Yeah, um, Lokes, maybe that’s not the best idea. Last time we went, the swing set ended up, well, gone. It was gone. I don’t know where it ended up.”

Loki assured him confidently, “Anthony, I will be there. If Moriana has an incident, I’ll be able to reverse whatever it is. Keeping her in the house all the time isn’t healthy.”

“What if she accidentally hurts someone?” Tony asked, concerned.

“I have healing spells at my disposal,” Loki said, “Anthony, you underestimate me. Moriana is a young mage still. She can hardly do anything that I’ll find too difficult to cover up.”

“Okay,” Tony agreed hesitantly, “if you’re sure. Do you want me to come along?”

“I distinctly remember you saying you became so emerged in your own project that you completely neglected the work Mr. Potts gave you,” Loki reminded him. “Perhaps now would be a good time to start that.”

Tony pouted, “I thought I hired a nanny, not an assistant.”

“I’m not your nanny,” Loki retorted unconvincingly, “Jarvis, tell Moriana to prepare for a trip to the park.”

Loki back upstairs and found Mori in the doorway, bouncing excitedly. “Loki, we’re really going to the park?”

“Of course,” Loki took her hand and led her out the door. The park was just a couple blocks away, in a nice open space near a pond. A few kids were already there, playing while their mothers sat on the benches and chatted. Loki found an empty bench to settle on with his book and chuckled when Mori sat down next to him.

Loki urged Mori on, “Go ahead and play, I’ll be right here.”

She hesitated, “Promise? You’ll stay right here?”

“I promise.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, “Go on. Never allow fear to spoil your fun.”

“Okay,” she let go of his hand reluctantly and walked on to the sandbox, looking back constantly to make sure he kept his promise. It didn’t take long for her to be immersed in conquering the medium of sand. From where he sat, it looked like she was recreating Stark tower. The expression of hyper-focus she wore reminded him of her father.

“Excuse me, hi,” a woman approached and sat down next to him. She wore a lilac hijab and had the kind gentleness of a grandmother. “I’ve never seen you around. Did you move here recently?”

“Oh, yes, I suppose so,” Loki replied pleasantly. “I’m Lucas.”

“I’m Aalia,” she introduced herself, “Your daughter is beautiful. Such big brown eyes. She must use them often.”

“Unintentionally,” Loki admitted, “She gets them from her father.”

“Oh, are you not,” Aalia paused, “I see, so you are a gay couple. That is beautiful and we hope you feel welcomed. My granddaughter, oh no, excuse me. My grandson. Is into other men.” She said it carefully, obviously still getting used to saying it. “Yes, my grandson is into other men as well. We hope he can have a beautiful child,” her next words were cut off by a woman’s scream.

They both looked up to see a boy balancing precariously on top of playground equipment, at least ten feet above the ground, trying to catch a butterfly. When he slipped, he failed to actually fall, instead floating, and when Loki looked at Mori, she was staring at the boy with the same hyper-focus as she did the sand.

Loki barked, “Mori.”

Mori blinked as if falling out of a trance and the boy continued falling. Loki caught him easily and handed him off to his terrified mother.

When he returned to the bench, Aalia was looking at him strangely.  She said, “That was… odd.”

“Yes, I felt like time stopped for a second there,” Loki said airily, “I’m sure my heart would have stopped were it my child.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what it felt like,” Aalia let out a sigh of relief, “Very good job catching that child. That’s exactly what parents need to be able to do these days.”

They continued chatting while Mori played though Loki kept a close eye on her. On one occasion when he looked back, Mori was on the swings but a maelstrom of leaves was starting to form around her. Loki just flicked his fingers so sparks of green popped in front of her, snapping her out of whatever was going on in her head.

When Aalia stood to leave, Loki decided that they had been out long enough as well. Mori whined when they had to leave but came easily enough, probably hoping to make up for the number of incidents Loki prevented by being obedient. 

They were barely inside the house for seconds before Tony came to meet them.

“How did it go?” he asked excitedly. He deflated when he saw Mori’s somber pout.

“Fairly well,” Loki answered, shocking them both. “Naturally, we expected incidents but no one was hurt or noticed anything strange. I also believe I may have some ideas for new techniques to help Mori focus.”

Tony was thrilled by the news but Mori’s pout only deepened. She said stubbornly, “I messed up. I was bad.”

Tony and Loki glanced at each other, at a lost. “No, honey, you weren’t bad,” Tony tried to reassure her. “You’re still learning.”

"I messed up," she repeated, tears already glimmering at the corner of her eyes. 

“If I may,” Jarvis chimed in. “Miss, Mori-land wasn’t built in one day. Any progress is good progress.”

"Exactly," Loki agreed, immediately latching to the comparison. "This is like the early stages of Mori-land. Before you know it, your magic will grow just like your beloved country. This is only the beginning, Moriana. There's so much more to learn."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm constantly updating cause I'm eager to get to part two... But here comes Pepper, being a big bad boss lady and stuff.

 

Loki was sitting in the living room, reading one of the books from the Asgardian library while Mori made a mess of his little ball, taking it apart and putting it back together.

He startled when the door clicked open while Mori perked up.

A woman with strawberry blonde hair stepped in, eyes growing wide when she caught sight of Loki.

“Aunt Pep,” Mori cheered. In her excitement, she created a rotating ball of air not unlike the ball Loki gave her, that carried her clear across the room and into ‘Aunt Pep’s’ arms.

“Mori,” she smiled warily, “Who’s this?”

“Loki Odinson,” he stood to introduced himself properly, “I’m Moriana’s mentor.”

“Pepper Potts,” she offered her hand for a hand shake.

Instead, Loki pressed it to his lips with a charming smile. “A pleasure.”

Despite her faint blush, she still looked critical of him.

“Pepper,” Tony strolled into the room, shouldering Loki playfully to get to Pepper, “You didn’t say you were visiting.”

“Yes, well, I didn’t think anyone else would be here,” she glanced purposefully at Loki.

“He’s helping me get Mori’s mumbo jumbo under control,” Tony explained, “He’s a mage, an off planet one.”

“’Mumbo jumbo’,” Loki shook his head, “It is seidr. She is on her way to being a very gifted mage.”

“I see,” Pepper still had that concerned look. “Tony, can I talk to you in private?”

Tony recognized the tone immediately, his smile dimming, “Alright. We can talk in my lab.”

Tony led Pepper down, silently hoping this conversation isn’t going to be as difficult as Pepper’s stern frown makes it seem bound to be. He sat down on one of his stools and asked, “What’s up, Pep?”

“Tony, you’re letting a strange man live with you and your daughter.” Pepper tried not to challenge his decisions as a father often but she was a naturally opinionated woman. “I don’t know how wise that is.”

“Pep, relax. Loki has been staying here for a month already and he’s been nothing but helpful and supportive.”

“Where did he come from, Tony? And none of that alien nonsense.”

Tony shrugged sheepishly. “He, uh, said alien nonsense. Other than that, I have nothing to offer you. But he opens up more over time. It’s not like he’ll never tell me.”

She glared at him and argued, “This is ridiculous. You’re letting a magician come in and teach your daughter whatever he likes because he knows magic too? Did you even try to background check him?”

“Um, mage,” Tony corrected. “I have a blood sample that is very much not human. And I just have a good feeling about him. He’s not the nicest guy on earth but I wouldn’t trust someone who was. He’s just a really smart guy who’s passionate about magic and loves Mori. I mean, seriously, you should see him tuck her in at night. Or play with her until she’s tired. They even had a little sleepover, which was ridiculously cute because he’s taller than me and stuffed himself into that tiny bed.”

“Oh Tony,” Pepper deflated, “If you say so. It seems like you’re keeping an eye on them. Jarvis, does everything look good to you too?”

“Indeed, Miss Potts,” the A.I answered, “Mr. Odinson seems to round out some of sir’s and miss’s rougher traits.”

“Jarvis,” Tony gasped dramatically, “My daughter does not have ‘rough’ traits.”

Jarvis replied dryly, “She takes after you in many ways, sir.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Pepper said, reluctantly fond. “She’s going to be a nightmare when she’s a teenager.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fyi, I didn't really think there was a point in trying to fit this in there but after Tony bowed out, he gave position of CEO to Pepper, who had Stane investigated because she just did not trust him. Therefore, in this fic, he's jailed already. Need a woman to get things done, am I right?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out something he didn't want to know. Because seriously, it makes no sense. And Mori is a little bundle of personality. 
> 
> (I think this is the 'You really shouldn't invite people you don't know into your house' chapter because Tony did invite him on a whim when his judgment wasn't the best (see: sleep-deprived and stressed). But this story wouldn't have gotten so far if he met Loki at 100% adultness).

“Uh, what are you guys doing?” Tony asked from the doorway of the living room. The table had been pushed aside and his magic nanny and six-year-old were doing a strange hitting motions in the middle of the room.

“I am teaching Moriana simple fighting techniques and pressure points,” Loki explained, “There are beings who can limit and even take away a mage’s ability to use seidr. It is pertinent to know how to defend oneself without magic.”

“It’s super fun,” Mori chirped. “I’m going to beat up bad guys and be a hero.”

“Not until you’re eighteen,” Tony said firmly.

Mori huffed but nodded. “Okay, daddy.”

Loki tossed him an amused glance but didn’t say anything.

“Is this going to be a daily thing?” Tony asked.

Loki nodded, “I believe so.”

“Then let’s go ahead and make my office into a training room. It’s not like I use it anyway. What type of things do you need? Padding? Definitely padding. Jarv, put padding on the training room buy list.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Wait, wait, Anthony,” Loki said, “That’s not necessary. This area serves our purpose just fine.”

 “But my office would serve it better. Besides, I just have it to give people the impression that I’m a functioning adult. I’m in my lab most of the time anyway.” Tony came over and grabbed Mori by the waist and pivoting up. She screeched and giggled then snuggled into her father’s chest when he dropped onto the couch and settled her in his lap. “What color do you want the training room to be, baby girl?”

“Uhhhhh, green,” she decided, “And gold. Like Loki.”

“A Loki room it is,” Tony grinned up at Loki, “What do you think, Lokes?”

The smile Loki gave him was oddly shy. “I think you both honor me far too much.”

“Givers of knowledge are highly revered in this house,” Tony proclaimed.

“Yes, that is another way you shock and amaze me,” said Loki, sitting down beside him. “Where I come from, a thirst for knowledge is mocked and belittled.”

Tony looked appalled, “Loki, I am a scientist. I wouldn’t have a job if I didn’t have a thirst for knowledge.”

“Yes,” Loki said thoughtfully, “To be completely honest with you, Anthony, I was going to take Moriana away to Alfheim if you did not prove to be an exceptional mortal.”

Tony’s mouth dropped open in shock, “You’re serious.”

“Yes,” Loki had the decency to look bashful, “It would far more difficult for her to grow up on this realm if you were less accepting of my help and guidance. Or if you forbid her growth in skill, perhaps because of Midgardian fear. I don’t believe you realize just how much of an anomaly you are, Anthony. Even where I come from, my guidance would hardly be accepted with such exuberance.”

“Ah, wah, but kidnapping?” Tony said because he can’t get over the fact the Loki was going to kidnap his daughter.

“But you are necessary for her growth as a mage,” Loki continued, “And I am proud to see her develop under your care.”

“But, seriously, kidnapping?” Tony asked, still shocked, “Is that just a thing where you’re from?”

Loki huffed, “Did you not hear anything else I said?”

“Not really,” Tony admitted.

“Daddy, you have to listen,” Mori scolded him. “Loki likes to monologue.”

That made Tony laugh until he was fighting back tears while Loki looked like he was contemplating everything. He told Mori sternly, “I do not like to monologue.”

“Mmmmm,” Mori sucked in her bottom lip thoughtfully. “You dooo. A lot.”

“Stop, I can’t,” Tony stuttered out, between bouts of laughter, “I can’t breathe.”

“I don’t,” Loki argued, looking distinctly put out.

“I love you anyway,” Mori assured him, crawling into his lap to hug him. “But you monologue a lot.”

Loki accepted the hug, a slight smile curling in the corner of his mouth. “Where did you even learn the word 'monologue'?”

“Jarvis,” she answered, because of course Jarvis teaches her words that are inoffensive but at the same time, somehow cuts deeper than an insult would.

Loki sighed, “Well I’m glad you’re expanding your vocabulary at the very least.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas with the Starks/Carbonells! 
> 
> After six months, Loki is spending his first Christmas with his little family. And guess who turned six off-screen!

Loki was busy cooking when the doorbell rang and, as agreed, Tony took care of greeting their guest. Mori was off doing something, having grown bored of cooking hours ago. Loki didn’t fault her for it. He focused better alone anyway.

He heard the telltale laughter of their first guest and Mori’s little feet running down the stairs.

“Uncle Rhodey,” she shouted, excited.

Uncle Rhodey responded with an equally excited, “Hey, baby girl. Merry Christmas.” There was a blunt impact and grunt that was probably her jumping into his arms. “I’m sorry I missed your birthday. Did you like your present?”

“It’s okay,” Mori chirped, “your present was really nice. Thank you, Uncle Rhodey.”

“Anything for you, baby girl. Smells good in here. Where did you order from this year, Tones?”

“Well I didn’t really order anything,” Tony said, “More like got a personal chef.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

“Loki is cooking,” Mori clarified.

Uncle Rhodey was understandably confused. “And Loki is…?”

“Our nanny,” was their harmonious answer.

“Right. Can I meet your nanny?” his tone implied that he was talking to Mori, which was probably why when she came in, she was pulling along a dark skinned man that immediately measured Loki up, calculating whether he was a threat or not.

“Loki, this is Uncle Rhodey.” Mori let go of his hand and skipped over to Loki, “He does magic.”

Rhodey’s eyebrows shot up, “Does he?”

“Indeed I do,” Loki replied, “I mentor Moriana to hone her own skill. I am not, however, her nanny.”

Mori staged whispered, “He always says that.”

Rhodey chuckled, “Alright, what type of magic can you do, Loki?”

“I actually have a very different skill set than Moriana,” Loki explained, “I’m more of a shape-shifted and traveler. Taking on different forms and teleporting are unique to me. I am teaching Moriana general mage-craft that anyone that can bend seidr should be able to do.”

“Loki, do Uncle Rhodey,” Mori demanded excitedly.

Loki smiled indulgently at Mori and asked Rhodey, “Is it okay if I mimic your form?”

Rhodey, unable to really comprehend what he was being asked, shrugged slightly, “ok…” A second later, he was staring, stunned, at himself. He stepped back, whispering, “oh hell no.”

Loki shifted back to himself and smiled at Rhodey’s shock. “Yes, you’ve walked into a house of wonders, I suppose. Darling, why don’t you take your uncle Rhodey to see Mori-land? You’ve made wonderful progress recently.”

“Yeah,” Mori took Rhodey’s hands and dragged him out the door, “You have to see Asgard.”

“As-what?” Rhodey yelped.

As they left, Tony came in, smiling fondly. “He’s going to love the explanation for that.”

Loki chuckled, “It should be rather fascinating. When are we expecting Ms. Potts and Mr. Hogan?”

“In about,” Tony glanced at his phone, “ten minutes. Everything going alright in here? You’re sure you don’t need any help?”

“I don’t need you obstructing me,” Loki replied easily, “Mori would be more help than someone who burns water.”

“I let it boil for a bit too long, sue me for having very important projects that need to get done.” Tony huffed dramatically but came closer to lean his head on Loki’s shoulder. His hand landed lightly on Loki’s waist, gentle but possessive. “But we both really appreciate this. Especially the part where you’re, you know, here. I appreciate that.”

“You’ve told me that before,” Loki reminded him. “And I think you should know that there’s nowhere in the universe I’d rather be.”

“Good.” Tony rested there, content to hinder Loki while he was working. Loki didn’t bother pretending to be upset. When the doorbell rang, Tony tore himself away reluctantly and went to answer it.

“Pepper, Happy,” Tony greeted loudly, “Welcome. Come on in. Mori, come down and say hi.”

With the last of the preparations taken care of, Loki went out to see the guests himself. Ms. Potts was dressed casually in a red and green wool Christmas sweater with little reindeer on it. Happy had on the ugliest wool sweater covered in poorly knitted Santas. Tony was pushing their presents under the Christmas tree.

“Loki,” Pepper greeted him with a smile, “You’re cooking?”

“I am,” he confirmed, kissing her hand. “Thank you for coming, Ms. Potts. And you as well, Mr. Hogan.”

“It’s Pepper,” she slapped his arm playfully, “I swear, you’re worse than Jarvis.”

“I resent that statement, Ms. Potts,” Jarvis chimed in, sounding more indignant than an artificial intelligence should be able to.

“Don’t worry, Jarv, you’re way worse than Loki,” Tony assured, him laughing.

Mori bounded down the starts with Rhodey following behind and gave her Uncle Happy and Aunt Pepper a hug. Then she turned her big brown eyes on Tony and asked, “Can we open the presents now?”

Tony pretended to think for a minute. “Hmmm, you have been a very good girl so… yep, present time.”

“Yayyy, me first,” Mori in front of the couch, Loki sitting on one side of her while Rhodey sat on the other and Happy and Pepper took the love seat. Tony gathered up the presents with her name and brought them over. He started with the biggest, a vertigo container that Happy had warned him to handle with care. 

“This is from Happy.”

Mori cheered and ripped off the wrapping paper. Inside was a white box and inside the white box was a fruit bouquet. Mori’s eyes went wide with wonder. Tony helped her take it out and set it on the table. The first thing she did was bite into a chocolate coated strawberry, making happy noises as she chewed.

Pepper sighed and gave Happy a look of exasperation. “Good choice, I guess.”

Tony took a pineapple daisy for himself and went to get the next present. He sat a rumpy looking present on her lap. “This is from Uncle Rhodey.”

Mori tore into it, revealing a hat with the bat signal on it and a comic excerpt on the bill. Mori grinned and immediately put it on. It was a tad too big but she was too happy to care. “I’m Batman.”

Rhodey bent over and kissed her cheek, “Yes you are, baby girl.”

“Now Aunt Pepper. Why don’t you read that for everyone?” Tony passed her a card.

Mori’s face fell in disappointment until she saw it. A picture of a German Shepherd surrounded by a litter of puppies was on the front. Then she opened it and read, “’Lila just had puppies and your Aunt Pepper says that you can give one a nice home. Your puppy is waiting for you, be sure to give him a good name.’ Daddy, I’m getting a puppy?” Mori literally flew over into Pepper’s arms, hugging the life out of her. “Thank you, Aunt Pepper.”

“Well you are six now,” Pepper reasoned, “It’s about time you had a friend to keep you company. Promise me you’ll take care of him?”

“I promise,” Mori kissed her cheek. “Jarvis can teach me how.”

“She says Jarvis,” Tony muttered, “Not me or her nanny, Jarvis. Jarv, you’re spoiling her.”

Jarvis replied, “I do my best, sir.”

Tony shook his head, “Next thing you know, he has full custody of Mori. Anyway, last but not least. Lokes? I didn’t see anything from you? Oh god, did you not know?”

“No, no, I kept my present in a dimensional hole,” Loki assured him, “And last? Are you not participating?”

“Daddy always buys me stuff,” Mori informed him matter-of-factly, “He’s not allowed to on holidays to teach himself control.”

Loki caught the proud smile Pepper gave her and immediately understood. “I see. Well here,” Loki reached into a hole and pulled out a dark green cloak that was as tall as Tony with four silver buttons down the front. “My mother made this for me when I was young. It is full of spells for protection. I promise, young one, that whenever you wear this, you will find your way home.” He wrapped it around her and buttoned it, watching as it shrank to fit her. “It will grow with you. Tug at the seidr just a bit,” he pulled the sides forward, as watched it turn into a jacket, “And it will be exactly what you need it to be. That, I admit, is my own magic but I could hardly give it to you without my own additions. But whenever you take it off, it will revert back to a cloak.”

He sat back and watched her stare at the cloak in wonder. Then realized the entire room was silent, eyes drawn to that cloak.

“Loki,” Tony breathed, “You can’t… we can’t let you… This is a lot.”

“It’s hardly anything,” Loki waved him off, “It’s a dusty cloak that was hardly being used at all. I’d rather Moriana had it than for it to remain in my closet.”

A sound of delight from Mori drew their attention back to her. The cloak has been turned into a coat the went down to her knees. Then she rubbed it a bit and glowed when it became a rain coat. She looked up at Loki, beaming and jumped into his lap to hug him. “I love you.”

Loki knew that that expression on his face couldn’t get more achingly soft as he hugged her back if he tried. He spent barely half a year with this small family yet he couldn’t imagine life without them anymore. “I love you too.”

“I’m just gonna,” Tony bent down and put his arms around both of them. Loki huffed and him but he just squawked, “What? I deserve to be a part of this too. Jarv, make this a family picture.”

“Of course, sir,” Jarvis said warmly.

Tony hugged them for a few more seconds in silence then muttered, “I hope my present is as good as that.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki makes a mistake and learns something new.

“What is that?” there was no mistaking the sound of disgust in Loki’s voice.

“Th-that’s Beast Boy,” Mori answered, staring at Loki with wide eyes. “He’s a hero.”

“He’s a completely green,” Loki said, shocked. _Just a shade away from a Frost Giant,_ “Yet he’s a hero?”

Suddenly, she ran out the room, yelling, “You’re the worst, Loki.”

Loki stared after her, stunned, until Tony ran into the room, asking panicked, “What is it? What happened? Jarvis said you made Mori cry.”

“I,” Loki sighed and said regretfully, “Perhaps I was too insensitive. I was merely commenting on the ‘Beast Boy.’ I hadn’t wanted to upset her.”

“Beast Boy? What’s wrong with Beast Boy?” Tony asked, confused.

“He’s green.”

“And?”

Loki stared for a beat. “Is that not strange?”

“Well sort of, if you think about it,” Tony admitted, “But that’s kind of the point of shows like this. It teaches kids that no matter what you look like, you can be a hero and that being different isn’t bad and, you know, who you are is who you are. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Mori knows why she’s not in school right now. She knows she’s different so shows like these are really important to her. All these characters are really important to her.”

“I see,” Loki nodded thoughtfully, “I shall apologize to Mori.”

“No, I’ll take care of Mori,” Tony assured him, “You sit down and watch Teen Titans. I have a feeling you have a lot to learn too.”

“But-,” Tony gave him the stern, ‘I’m the parent’ look that even he had a hard time arguing with. Partly because he felt a swell of affection whenever he saw the look that made him more pliable. “Alright. Jarvis, would you please restart the episode?”

“Of course, Mr. Odinson,” Jarvis answered, restarting the show.

“Good,” Tony squeezed his shoulder then left.

By the time the episode ended, Tony and Mori were sitting beside him. Mori was curled into Tony’s side, purposely avoiding Loki’s eyes. When the credits rolled, Loki decided to say something.

“This Beast Boy,” Mori tensed, “He’s a very good friend. He cares about his friends very much.”

Mori perked up, smiling, “He’s really great. Especially with Raven because even though he doesn’t understand her and they’re opposites, he tries hard to make her smile and stuff because she’s his friend and he wants her to be happy.”

Loki nodded, smile growing as she spoke. “That is what makes him a truly wonderful hero. He cares so much, just like you.”

Mori beamed with pride, “I can be a hero, right?”

“Of course,” Loki stated without a hint of doubt, “Darling, you’ll be the hero unmatched by any other. You are more worthy than anyone else.”

Mori stared at Loki with stars in her eyes, “You really think so?”

“Of course, this isn’t a life on this pathetic rock that can compare,” Loki pulled her into his lap and solemnly promised, “When you’re an adult, you’ll have the world in the palm of your hand. You’re not just a mage, you’re a creator and innovator, just like your father. If you want to be a hero, then you’ll be the best the nine realms have ever seen.”

Mori drunk in his words, eyes shining with wonder.

Loki poked her nose playfully, “Don’t look at me like that. This should hardly surprise you.”

That snapped Tony out of his own shocked amazement and tried to take back the role of supportive father. “Yeah, you can do whatever you put your mind to.” Yeah, weak, but nothing he said was going to come close to that.

Loki smirked at him, apparently enjoying his weak response. He suggested to Mori, “Why don’t we continue watching these Teen Titans? I want to learn more about the characters you’ve come to love.”

Later that day, after plenty of episodes of Teen Titans, Tony put Mori to bed and stopped in front of the doorway of Loki’s room. Loki was sitting on his bed, back propped up by a collection of pillows. He lowered the book he was reading and asked curiously, “is something wrong, Anthony?”

“No, everything’s fine. Great actually.” Tony sauntered over and flopped down beside Loki, appropriating one of his pillows. “Have I ever told you how great it is that you idolize my daughter? And not in the weird way. In a really sincere, loving way.”

“I do not idolize her,” Loki protested, “I adore her but I do not idolize.”

Tony shrugged slightly, “You sort of idolize her and I totally get it. I’m her father. She’s the most amazing thing on earth to me.  But you don’t have to build her up or take care of her or love her to hell and back. But you manage to do all of that. And that makes you irreplaceable to me.”

Loki looked at him, unreadable emotions flitting across his face. He said carefully, “Anthony, I care for you as well.”

Tony smiled, “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Loki smiled back shyly, “I care about both of you quite a bit. I’ve been married before but I never, I didn’t…” It was rare that words didn’t roll smoothly off Loki’s tongue. He looked frustrated with himself. Finally, with an expression of pure hopelessness, he finished lamely, “I just want to thank you for letting me into your home.”

“Really?” Tony smirked, “So you don’t at all want to kiss me?”

Loki glared at him, though his cheeks pinked. “You are far too smug.”

“Hey, no, I’m just glad this whole thing is mutual,” he wrapped a hand around Loki’s neck. “Now come here and make it worth the wait.”

 Loki came easily, muttering something like, “ridiculous mortal” before kissing Tony like the world would end if they were not together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally had a commentary planned for this end note but I'm sleepy and stuff. Ask questions if there's anything you want to know or need clarified. I'mma go pass out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to stick with updating on either Wednesday or Thursday even though those are the days I'm busiest with school and work and I should probably think this through more but what's one more thing on top of all the things.

“We should enroll Moriana into school,” Loki said at dinner a year later.

Tony and Mori glanced at each other, neither of them enthused by the suggestion. They looked back at Loki, clearly questioning his sanity.

“I was speaking to Aalia,” Loki explained, “And she told me how school is a crucial part to a child’s social development.”

“That sounds interesting,” Tony offered, “But Mori is sort of really far ahead of her peers. I don’t think trying to enroll her in school would be a good idea at this point.”

“And the homework sounds annoying,” Mori chirped. “And the schedule. I’d have to go every day, Loki. You’d miss me. And Jarvis would miss me. The family would fall apart.”

“We would survive,” Loki assured her dryly. “You hardly ever talk to children your own age. Don’t you wonder what it would be like if you weren’t surrounded by adults so often?”

“Adults are fun,” Mori said sullenly, “Other kids wouldn’t like me.”

“Yes they would,” Tony said instinctively, “Who wouldn’t like you? You’re incredible.”

“Uncle Rhodey says most kids my age aren’t as smart or sarcastic.” Mori waved her hands dramatically, “How are they not sarcastic? How else do they communicate?”

Tony and Loki wore matching looks of reluctant agreement.

“How was your school experience, Anthony?” Loki asked.

Tony thought about it and grimaced, “Yeah, let’s not get into that. There’s not a lot of good memories there. What about yours? I mean, I know you had tutors with the whole royal thing but how were you with other kids your age?”

Loki winced at whatever memory came to mind. “Maybe this was a foolish idea.”

 “It’s kind of funny,” Mori commented, “We’re a family of people who function so well, we malfunction around people.”

“You’re definitely not wrong,” Tony ruminated, “How about this? When you’re fourteen, we’ll enroll you in high school for a year and see if you like it.”

In Mori’s mind, that was far enough away that she just shrugged, “Alright.”

\--- --- ---- --

 

“Uhhhhh, Loki?” Mori squinted at the sky, looking for the ball she was playing with. “Can you see my ball?”

Loki looked up and spotted the red spec immediately, “Yes. Can’t you?”

“No,” she let the air drop it. It descended several feet when she caught again, announcing, “Now I see it.”

The look Loki was giving her held far more worry than he could stand to voice. He took out his phone and asked, “Jarvis, is failing eyesight in children something common on Midgard?”

Jarvis assured him immediately, “Very, Mr. Odinson. I’ll schedule an appointment with the eye doctor to get miss new glasses.”

Loki’s shoulders sagged with relief, “Thank you, Jarvis. Moriana, you’ll be getting glasses immediately.”

\----- ---- --

“You know, I hate that I couldn’t come with,” Tony sighed over the phone, “Are you at least liking the Himalayas? Is it getting your voodoo juice going? Had any magic-related epiphanies?”

“You needed to get your work done,” Loki reminded him. “And yes, it is nice here.”

Mori snorted. The nine year-old was sitting on a thin blanket, cross legged with her eyes closed and supposedly not listening to their conversation.

Loki reminded her sternly, “You should be meditating.”

“I am,” Mori claimed, keeping her eyes closed, “Really, I’ve never felt more enlightened. All my chakras are aligned, I’m channeling my inner nine-tailed fox, ouch,” Mori whined as Loki pulled her ear, “Okay, okay, sorry. But this is so boring.”

“This isn’t supposed to be fun. You must feel the earth around you if you want to make the most of your abilities.”

“Yeah,” Mori sighed, “I know. Air is one thing, everything else is another. If you are to be the avatar, you must master all four elements.”

Loki huffed, barely hiding his amusement. “You watch far too much television.”

\-----  ------   -----

When Mori was ten, Asgard showed up at the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Avatar thing was me mocking myself, chakras and nine-tailed fox mentioned because she's an anime kid and if you don't recognize either references, you haven't had a real childhood. 
> 
> Something I was thinking about: doing more short stories like these and posting them. So tell me if you want to see more family!Starks. Maybe even tell me *what* you want to see.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgard is here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments, kudos and support~

Tony and Loki were gone for their date night but during the day, leaving her in Jarvis care. When she heard the pounding on the door, she didn’t move an inch, happy to sit on the couch until whoever it was walked away.

But it persisted.

She sighed and asked Jarvis, “Who is it?”

“It’s an unnaturally large raven,” Jarvis sounded suitably unsettled and pulled the live video up on the television. Like he said, there was a huge raven pecking at the door.

Mori’s eyebrows reached her hairline, “Uh, Jarv, call Loki.”

 A second later, Loki was on the line, asking, “Is something wrong?”

“There’s a raven knocking. At the door. And I don’t know about you but I wasn’t expecting any non-human guests today. Or any at all. Seriously, Loki, a big raven is at the door.”

There was a pause and a curse before Loki hung up. He and Tony teleported into the living room, dressed to the nines but looking incredibly anxious. Loki pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, “Good job not opening the door. Go to your room. Anthony, go with her. I’ll deal with our guest.”

“Wait, Loki,” Tony grabbed his shoulders and forced him to still, “What’s happening? What’s with the raven?”

“He’s Odin’s raven,” Loki said simply.

 “Okay, your dad sent you a message,” Tony concluded. “What are you so worried about? Why do we have to leave?”

“I’m not supposed to be here. I broke Asgardian law by just deciding to visit. But I,” Loki trailed off, letting out a despondent sigh.

“You stayed,” Tony finished, staring at him with wide eyes. “You weren’t supposed to stay. You weren’t even planning to stay, were you?”

“Of course not,” Loki snapped, “What could interest me on a planet full of mortals? I came as a tourist, Anthony, knowing I had a life to return to. But I couldn’t leave.” _Since I found a family. Since I found love. Since I found_ you _._

Tony seemed to hear everything he left unsaid, nodding solemnly and ushering Mori up the stairs. Loki could hear her ask, hesitant and unsure, “Dad, Loki’s not going to leave us, is he?”

Tony didn’t offer an answer.

Loki’s face crumbled when they were out of sight, his heart aching with distress. But he only allowed it for a second. He threw up an air of nonchalance then opened the door. He asked flatly, “Can I help you, Huginn?”

The messenger glared, “The All-Father requests that you return at once.”

“Yes, yes, just go,” Loki waved him off, “Tell the All-Father I will be there.”

The raven didn’t move. “The All-father requests to see you _immediately_.”

Loki looked unimpressed, “The All-Father can wait a few measly seconds. Go tell the All-Father that I am on my way.”

The raven eyed him suspiciously before flying off.

Loki closed the door and steeled himself for the conversations ahead.  

Upstairs, Mori was spinning in her desk chair while Tony sat on her bed, the atmosphere grim. Neither of them looked up when he came in.

He sighed and sat down next to Tony. “I have to go for a bit.”

“You’re leaving?” Mori said accusingly, a subtle tremor in her voice. “Why? Why can’t you just stay? Are you even coming back?”

“Of course I’m coming back,” Loki assured her quickly, “I simply need to inform the All-Father of my intentions. He will surely see reason and allow me to return.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Tony asked quietly.

“He will,” Loki insisted. “He has to. Even if he doesn’t, my mother will. She knows how important family is.” His hands twitched, the sensation of grasping for straws so eerily vivid at the moment. Mori’s eyes snapped to his hands, her eyes were accusing. “Please, believe me. I’ll return to you.”

“Go,” Mori spun around, showing him her back. “Just go.”

Loki’s heart fell. He took a deep breath, gathering himself. “Very well. Anthony, will you walk me to the door?” He didn’t want to disappear within this house, a foolish sentiment but this space felt sacred.

Tony nodded silently and followed him to the door.

Just before Loki could clear the doorway, Mori yelled, “Hurry back.”

Loki froze. His shoulders relaxed as he said as confidently as he could, “Of course. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She didn’t turn back around but Loki felt indefinitely warmer leaving.

At the door, Tony entangled his hands in Loki’s hair and pulled him down into a kiss that was warm and comforting. It ended far too soon but he still held Loki close. “Come back soon, alright?”

“Of course,” Loki swallowed. “Of course, Anthony.”

Loki stepped at their door and vanished.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you thought you hated Odin before, boy, are you in for a treat.

 

Loki teleported into the throne room, startling the guards stationed at the door. Odin and Frigga were there, unsurprised by his sudden arrival.

“Loki,” Odin’s one eye looked down at him passively. “It has come to my attention that you have broken one of Asgard’s laws. As my son, I will be lenient with you. You are forbidden from going back.”

Loki stood taller, “I’m sorry, All-Father, but I can’t accept that. I have found a home among the Midgardians. Exile me from Asgard if you must but I gave them my word that I would return.”

“Loki, don’t be foolish,” Frigga sighed, “The Midgardians live a much shorter life than we do. Attaching yourself is unwise.”

Loki nodded, smiling wryly, “I know that mother. But I also know that I want to be by their sides the entirety of their short lives. I am already attached. I refuse to run away.”

The All-Father frowned at him, “I am being lenient. Any subject of Asgard would face a far harsher punishment. Do not be childish, Loki.”

“Is it childish to find love somewhere that is not Asgard?” Loki rebutted. “Is it childish to want to raise a young girl as my own because I have grown to love her as my own? I am not being childish, All-Father. I am telling you that I have found a family among the Midgardians and wish to return.” He met Frigga’s shocked blue eyes, “Would you really tear me away?”

“Yes.” Loki’s eye shot back to Odin. “The Midgardians aren’t ready to discover the nine realms. You being there will only cause trouble.”

“The Midgardians see me as one of their own,” Loki retorted, “No one knows I’m Aesir.”

“But man and girl you are determined to return to,” Odin concluded. “They know far more than any Midgardian should.”

“Because they’re my family,” Loki argued, “I could hardly keep it a secret from them and they wouldn’t tell a soul.”

“No Midgardians should know,” Odin gave him a jagged glare that cut deeper than Loki expected. “Not even ones you claim for yourself. If you cannot accept my judgment than you will be restricted to your room. Guards!”

“Odin,” Frigged cried, horrified, “Husband, perhaps you’re being cruel. Loki simply wants to protect those he holds dear.”

“Then he would do well to not return to Midgard.” Odin stood and left the throne room and behind him, silence fell.

“He threatened them.” It was barely a whisper. He could hardly hear himself over the blood rushing in his ear.

“Loki, please, calm yourself,” Frigga rushed down from the throne to ground her son, “He has his reasons.”

“She’s just ten, mother. In Midgardian years, she’s still hardly more than a babe.” His voice turned acidic as he hissed, “And he threatened her life for a foolish, outdated law. Why mother? Why should I stay calm?”

“Because Odin will take action should he feel the need.” _He will follow through with his threat._

When her words sunk in, Loki crumbled. “Mother, I can’t just leave them. I promised I would return. I have to go back home.”

 “Please, Loki, go to your room,” she hushed him before he could speak. “All I can promise you is that you will be able to say goodbye.”

Loki closed his eyes and breathed in, desperate to regain control of his emotions, hold them on a tighter leash than he had to the last five years. He had to throw back up the walls he let crumble. “I understand.”

“Your father must have his reasons,” Frigga tried to insist. “Please, understand, he would never wish to hurt you.”

“I’m sorry, mother, but I don’t believe he cares about my happiness at all,” Loki told her calmly.

“You may be upset now but do you really believe that you can stand seeing that young girl as an old woman at the doors of Helheim?” Frigga asked, concerned.

“There’s a Midgardian phrase that I have come to appreciate: It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.” Loki smiled sadly, “Whenever it occurred to me that I could lose them, I remember all the ways they made me happy.”

Frigga looked lost, “your father made the decision he felt was best.”

“If he can’t understand why he’s wrong then I refuse to call him my father.”

 

 

Later that night, Frigga appeared at his door, waving him along. He left a copy of himself in bed and followed her through the silent castle to her study.

“I have cast a spell on Heimdall’s sight,” Frigga confided, “He will only see what he sees now. The spell won’t last long. Go and say goodbye to your family.”

The idea of seeing Tony and Mori one last time made Loki falter. “Can the All-Father not be convinced?” Loki asked hopelessly. “Is there really no reasoning with him?”

He met Frigga’s sad blue eyes and looked away. He sighed and teleported into Mori’s room.

Jarvis immediately greeted him, “Welcome back, Mr. Odinson.”

“Don’t welcome me, Jarvis.” He looked down at Mori, his expression soft and miserable. She was sleeping with her glasses on, a book right beside her head. She always woke up disgruntled when she did that but it was a constant occurrence. He slid them off gently and folded them on her nightstand. Loki moved silently to her desk and gathered a pencil and paper. He wrote with magic entwined in every stroke, how much he loves her, how he hates having to leave, how Odin gave him no choice and with his signature, he solidified a protection spell. He tucked the note beneath her glasses and kissed her forehead. “Jarvis, please wake her up when I leave the house.”

The AI sounded uneasy, “Of course, Mr. Odinson.”

Next, he went to the lab where, as he expected, Tony was preoccupying his mind with a project and the horrid noise he called music. Jarvis quieted the music as soon as he appeared. Tony’s head snapped up in surprise. Loki could see the beginning of a grin because saw the expression of Loki’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t stay,” Loki admitted.

Tony’s face immediately fell. “What?”

“Odin wouldn’t be convinced,” Loki explained, somewhat hysterical to have him understand that he wanted to but he just couldn’t. “He believes that Midgardians aren’t ready to know about Asgard. He threatened the both of you, Anthony. He believes that neither of you should have the knowledge. He doesn’t trust you. He doesn’t trust _me_ ,” Loki was dumbfounded by the realization but it made sense. Odin probably assumed that this was just a small part of a larger scheme. He may well think Loki wanted Midgard for himself and was using his family as a cover to stay. “I’ve been concealing my presence on Midgard. I can imagine the types of conclusion Odin must have drawn when he heard that Heimdall couldn’t find me.”

Tony stared at him in disbelief. “But you’re his son.”

Loki let out a sardonic laugh, “Hardly. I’m not Thor and I see now that I never will be. I don’t want to be. I am the problematic brother with a silvertongue that deceives. I’m the god of chaos and mischief. I’m done trying to be a son Odin is proud of. If that means never coming back, never seeing Moriana grow into a woman, then I would rather be disowned. For now, Odin still has Asgardian law on his side. Your knowledge can be held against you so I can’t stay and give him a reason to act. But I won’t stop watching over you and Moriana. Should you need me, I will be there, even if I can’t be there physically.”

“Loki,” Tony stood, shaky on his feet. He motioned him closer, “Come here.”

Loki moved quickly, wrapping his arms around Tony and breathing in the sharp gun metal smell, underlined by cinnamon. He whispered desperately, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” Tony clung to him, “I’m sorry too. How are we going to tell Mori?”

Loki shook his head and pulled away, “Anthony, I can’t say goodbye to her. She’s my world. I… I can’t handle saying goodbye.”

“Loki, you have to,” Tony’s grip on him tightened. “You can’t just leave.”

“I’m sorry.” Those were the last words Tony heard him say before he vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Part 1 has one more chapter after this, just to tie everything up. Then we're on to Part 2, ALIENS. Fun, right? And I know, you guys are full of questions about that but I can't really answer them cause spoilers are no fun. So, in conclusion, Odin is a dick, Loki's a bit of a coward, Tony's a single father again and Mori lost one of her fathers.
> 
> Also, I noticed that some people put their email in these so guys, I'm totally open to being emailed so here it is:  
> bookaddiction@live.com


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aftermath: Hope for Better Days and Take the First Steps Towards Them.  
> Posted Early cause I have nothing better to do today.

 

 

After half an hour of staring into space, Tony found it in himself to snap out of it and look after his daughter. “Jarvis, wake Mori up.”

“She’s already awake, sir,” Jarvis reported, “And she has read the note Mr. Odinson left for her so she is aware of Mr. Odinson’s departure.”

“Oh,” Tony sighed, “Does she look like she wants to talk?”

“Not much more than you do, sir.”

“Okay, well,” Tony turned back to his schematics, “We’ll give her some time to think. Don’t want to bombard her too much.”

“Very good, sir.”

The next morning, Tony hung outside Mori’s door, preparing his speech on how everything will be okay. He had a little packet of tissues in his pocket and a collection of comforting phrases compiled off the internet memorized. He could handle this. Although he hadn’t slept at all the night before, hopefully that wasn’t too big of a demerit.

He lifted his fist and knocked.

Then heard a faint ‘go away.’

“No can do, kiddo,” he said through the door. “Let’s talk. You and me.”

There was a long moment of silence before Jarvis said, “you have permission to enter, sir.”

“Thanks, Jarv.” Tony opened the door slowly, eyeing the dark room with apprehension. “Am I going to step on any Legos?”

“Probably,” she muttered from her bed. She was laying down, sheets pulled above her head.

Tony sighed and made his way over to her. He sat down gently, careful not to jostle her and rubbed the bump that was her arm. “I know you’re sad, Mori. I am too but you know Loki didn’t want to leave.”

“But he had to leave,” Mori spat bitterly.

Tony agreed dejectedly, “The All-Daddy didn’t give him much of a choice. But don’t think for a second that he’ll forget us. He’ll be watching from his crystal ball or whatever voodoo he uses to spy on us. We’re not really alone.”

“We are alone. We’re _always_ alone,” Mori ranted from beneath the sheet. “No one ever stays. We can never trust anyone because we don’t want them knowing I’m a freak.”

“Mori, no,” Tony pulled down the sheet to meet her glistening eyes, “You’re not a freak and you know it. You’re just different and not everyone can handle that.”

“But if I wasn’t like this we wouldn’t have to worry,” Mori argued, “You wouldn’t be stuck here with me.”

“I’m not stuck anywhere,” Tony kissed her forehead gently, “Mori, I had every way out available to me when I found you on my doorstep. I’m here because I want to be.”

“But no one else wants to be.”

Tony deflated at that. “Mori…”

“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly, rolling over to hide her face. “I know; everyone is just really busy. They visit when they can.”

They sat in silence. Tony tried to grasp for something to say, something honest that she won’t be able to see right through because his daughter was painfully sharp. But he came up short. Several doctorates and he couldn’t even comfort his own daughter. He was a worse father than Howard.

“Sir, if I may,” Jarvis intervened gently. “Mr. Odinson left a pattern of using both physical and mental stimulation to distract when either of you were ‘down in the dumps.’”

The AI was a godsend. “Jarvis is right. We shouldn’t let up on your studies just because Loki is gone. I’m sending you to a martial arts school. After Loki’s lessons, getting a black belt should be a piece of cake. And we’re doubling up on your school lessons since magic is out of the question. You’ll have your lessons with Jarvis, then lectures in my lab. Also, Jarv, add more languages to the curriculum. Starks don’t just sit around and feel sorry for themselves.”

“Yes, they do,” Mori grumbled, looking at him apprehensively. “I don’t want more lessons.”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t ask.”

“What if… what if I hurt someone? In martial arts?”

“That’s kind of the point, kiddo.”

“Dad,” she whined, “Seriously, I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Then you won’t. I have a lot of faith in you, Mori. You’ve come a long way from when Loki first came. I know you’re nervous but you have to at least try.”

“Never allow fear to spoil my fun,” Mori recited, startling herself. “I think Loki said that once.”

“Wise words from someone that really cared about you. Come here,” he opened his arms and let her sit up and stick her face into his neck while she hugged him tightly. He rocked her, brushing back her hair absently. “Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course they'll be okay. Starks roll with the punches. 
> 
> BTW this is like one Dad!Tony story of many that's in my computer. I've been obsessed with these for a while and I still can't believe I'm actually posting one.


	13. Interlude I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between the beginning and the end is the breaking point.

Loki kept his word when it came to watching over them. He casted a spell on one of his mirrors to become a window into their lives. It was intrusive, he had to admit, but it was all he was allowed. He even had a chair in front of it, for times when he would watch for hours, watch as Mori grew and Tony’s hair grayed. She had a penchant for mischief that shone as bright as his own. They moved to New York while he was gone, to be closer to Pepper while Mori went through the pits falls of puberty. The young girl and woman met almost weekly to talk and Pepper constantly gave her the same look of loving exasperation that she gave Tony.

He was also there when Mori went to her first day of school, settled into his chair and smiling fondly at the two.

Tony drove her to the high school, a large building suited for at least a thousand students, if not double that. They were late for some reason and all the other students were already inside. Tony got out the car to hug her. Loki smiled slightly as she kissed her father’s cheek goodbye. Thanks to the spell he could hear Tony reassuring her, though it sounded more like he was comforting himself.

“Call, text, whatever, if you need me, I’ll be here. Even if you’re just lonely. And if anyone tries to mess with you, just text me their name, I’ll have Jarvis… do something. He’ll do whatever he wants, which is really scary when you think about it because he gets really creative when there’s a threat. Remind me to tell the SHIELD story when you get home-“

“Dad,” Mori interrupted, smiling, “I love you too, bye.”

“But-“

“Bye.”

“But-“

“BYE, I love you.”

Tony snorted, “Okay, I can take a hint. I love you too, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead, “Be good. Or whatever version of good you are when I’m not around. Yeah, Miyagi actually talks to me. I’m onto you.”

“Just go,” she laughed, “I’m going to be late for class.”

“Okay, okay,” Tony paused, “Are you sure you don’t want me to walk with you?”

“Dad,” she scolded but not without humor, “Go. I’ll be fine.

 “Okay, alright, going,” He backed away slightly. “I’m just going to get in my car and drive back home. I’ll see you after school. When I come back to pick you up. And you’ll tell me all about school. Don’t do drugs.” With that, he finally left.

Loki watched the rest of her day, observing as she established an impressive reputation with her classmates. Her intellect and physical capabilities unsettling some and amazing others. He could see her father in her while she joked with her classmates, even those who dared to dislike her, apparent ease only betrayed by a slight tension in her shoulders.

He was also there when she made her first real friend.

It was the middle of the school day. A teacher had asked her to go to a different room and fetch something. When she found the door locked, she unlocked it with little more than a flick of seidr. She opened the door and watched, slightly stunned, as Peter Parker hung up decorations. Loki had seen this child once before in one of Mori’s class. He was a year older and in one of her AP classes. They barely exchanged more than a few words. Now, Peter was slinging out a web from his wrist to bring the decorations to him as he moved across the wall.

Mori closed the door behind her, the click making Peter’s head snap up.

He stared at Mori dumbly. “Uh. This isn’t what it looks like.”

“You’re Spiderman,” she stated, a bit awed.

“Okay, maybe it’s a bit like what it looks like but I can explain.”

Mori huffed a laugh, “Explain what? You’re Spiderman, case closed.  I haven’t seen you do anything wrong so I think we’re good. Or what? Are we going to find some webbed up dead bodies anytime soon?”

“No, of course not, but,” he trailed off at the unimpressed look she was giving him. “You can’t tell anybody.”

“Yeah, I know.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Hey, can I tell you my secret? It’ll be like a trade-off. I’ll keep your secret as long you keep mine. You tell mine and I’ll blast yours across every possible media outlet.”

“It’s a bit terrifying when you put it that way but sure.” He grabbed a chair and spun it around just to sit in it backwards. “What’s up?”

“Well,” she hesitated, “I can sort of do magic.”

He stared at her blankly.

“Like actual magic, you know,” her hand spun around absently while she explained, “Like with air, fire, water,” her hand spun up a small tornado while she spoke, then fire was spun into it, then water, “Or lightening,” spark flew from her figures. “And there’s other stuff but things like that are easiest for me.”

 “Those are easiest,” Peter stared, wide-eyed at her, “Those things. Are easiest. But you can do other stuff.”

“Yeah like teleporting, dimensional pockets, but those things are more of a strain. I can do spells if I have them in front of me but I never memorized one.”

“Shit, you’re a real life Harry Potter,” Peter breathed.

“That’s actually pretty insulting,” Mori smirked, “I’m way better than Harry Potter.”

Peter glared at her briefly, “Don’t knock Harry Potter. But how can you do all that?”

Mori shrugged, “Born with it. You?”

“Radioactive spider bite.”

“Cool.”

“Not really.”

“So now you run around in spandex and fight crime.”

Peter tensed, “Yeah…”

“I’ve been wanting to do that for forever but my dad said I’m not allowed to until I’m eighteen. Which I think is ridiculous but.” Mori sighed and shrugged.

“My aunt May doesn’t know,” Peter informed her quietly, “I’ve had to come up with all types of excuses. I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m doing drugs.”

“That sucks,” she commiserated. “I can help you out if you need an alibi or a better suit than that shitty one you’ve been wearing or whatever,” the ‘whatever’ was a weak afterthought that left Peter looking affronted.

“My suit isn’t that bad.”

Mori hummed noncommittally, “I can smell the low quality from here.”

“You think you can do better?” he challenged.

Mori snorted, “I know I can. Come to my house, we’ll look into getting more durable material and maybe even improve the design.”

“The design is fine.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a reluctant one.”

She grinned and held out her hand, “Well, Parker, looks like you and me are going to be partners in crime-fighting.”

Just as Peter’s hand touched hers, Loki felt a hand drop onto his shoulder. Loki jumped, dispelling the image, and swung around to glare at Thor. “What are you doing in my room? How many times do I have to tell you to knock?”

“I tried to knock but you weren’t responding. Too engrossed in the image you conjured on the mirror,” Thor complained. “Mother wishes for you to join in planning my coronation.”

“What need is there for me?” Loki hissed, “No one wants to hear what I truly think about your coronation. There’s hardly any point in asking me.”

“But brother,” Thor attempted to argue but Loki cut him off.

“Leave, Thor.”

Again, Thor tried to argue but Loki’s stony glare made him bite his tongue. “Fine, brother. Hopefully, you will leave your jealousy behind and join us soon.”

Loki felt something snap. His last string of patience with his witless brother and fool of a king. They both needed to be taught a lesson. “Perhaps I will join you, brother. Tell mother to expect me.” He could hardly expect his own plans to be effective if he didn’t know theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm moving the timeline around just a bit in here. I mean, not that that's the biggest canon divergence but for the sticklers, here's your warning. Don't bother commenting about it unless you want something scathing and sarcastic in reply.
> 
> Also: if you don't get the karate kid reference, just go ahead and assume Miyagi is her martial arts teacher's name. We'll never see him anyway.


	14. Interlude II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between the beginning and the end is the turning point.

“Sir?”

Tony looked up from schematics for a new project, “Yeah, Jarv?”

“You asked to be alerted to significant events within SHIELD,” Jarvis began. “I believe this is an event you may find to be significant.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Captain America has been rediscovered and thawed. He’s still alive, sir.”

“Oh, wow,” Tony said, sufficiently shocked. “Wow, I guess Cap is harder to kill than we thought. Keep me updated with that. And maybe send him some anonymous ‘welcome back’ flowers, just to fuck with him.”

\--- --- --- ---

While walking down the hall, Amora appeared beside Loki. She began with, “Thor’s coronation is soon.”

The ire the boiled beneath Loki’s skin heated but his face did not betray emotion. “Indeed.”

“And after he is king, he will have to choose a queen.”

Here, Loki saw a prime opportunity for mischief. “Yes, it really is too bad for you that even after Thor ascends the throne, Odin will not allow him to think for himself.”

That gave Amora pause. “Why do you say that?”

“Well Odin wishes for Thor to wed Sif, seeing how she is a worthy warrior rather than just another maiden. He feels that it would make a statement to the nine realms of Asgard’s power. Thor’s heart, however, lies with you.”

“But Thor has refused all my advances,” Amora argued. “He shows no leaning towards me.”

“Odin has taught him well in that respect,” Loki said. “He must ignore his heart to remain worthy in the All-Father’s eyes.”

“What must I do to sway Thor to follow his heart?”

“You will do nothing,” Loki said, scandalized, “How can you even think of questioning the All-Father’s wisdom?”

“Well someone must,” she snapped, “I know well that you do. Your play at innocence does not suit you, trickster.”

“Fine,” Loki turned on her, “Since you wish to deny me my tricks, I will be frank. The only way you will be able to gain the All-Father’s approval is if you prove yourself to be a formidable queen. One the All-Father couldn’t possibly turn away.”

“How will I show myself to be a formidable queen?” Amora asked, mostly to herself. “I have so little time. Thor’s coronation is far too soon.”

Loki smirked, “Trust me, Amora, you have far more time than you think. Take your time. Think of something truly _worthy_.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, second time I'm attempting to post this and last time I posted this entire things about how difficult this was to finish because it was done but it wasn't DONE, ya know? Anyway, sorry this took so long. It's not even much of a chapter, just a really necessary interlude pt. dos. The next chapter is just about up and ready to go so you should see that soon.
> 
> Also, this is now a series and the next work over is Home, drabbles of home life with the Starks. If I don't update for a while, that's probably has been and it may hold some info as to why I haven't been updating so check that out.


	15. Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki goes through with his plan but unexpected factors, fostered illusions and a different point of view changes things.

Loki decided that Thor should be punished by the man that hailed him a king. He could imagine the confusion, the sense of betrayal, when Odin of all people declare him unworthy. And from that, punishing Odin would be even easier. He could see Odin growing wearier with every passing day. He was going to fall into Odinsleep soon. And while he slept and Thor was undergoing whatever punishment Odin saw fit, Loki would leave. Not for earth, not yet. That would be the first place Odin looked. No, Alfeim would more suitable an escape. And perhaps, there was a stray bit of hope, that he could convince Anthony and Moriana to join him on Alfeim. Their curiosity and sense of adventure would perhaps spur them on, even if they felt that Loki betrayed them by leaving. He could extend his concealment spell over the three of them and when Odin awakes, he would scour the nine realms but the old man would never be able to touch his family. All he had to do was get Thor to disobey Odin in a show of deliberate pig-headedness that would cement in Odin’s mind that Thor was not ready. Then the man would lose both his sons and perhaps even the respect of his wife.  

That was the plan.

Heimdall, though, was supposed to be loyal to the king, not the prince. It was almost like a death sentence when he let a group headed by the most abrasive brute in Asgard to go into the heart of enemy land.

He had not meant to step foot on Jotunheim. He hadn’t wanted to battle waves of frost giants. And when one touched him, he hadn’t meant to teleport right into his mother’s study.

She started when he appeared there and said something, called his name perhaps, maybe scolded him for scaring her. He barely heard while he watched his skin, return from icy blue to his familiar pale skin. The color had been comically close to the green of Beast Boy’s skin. Or more like the android part of his friend, Cyborg. Moriana had loved him dearly as well.

“Loki,” his mother’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

 _Being different isn’t bad._ He could still remember Anthony uttering the words like it was an ancient truth. “Mother, you must be honest with me.” _Who you are is who you are._ “Am I Asgardian?”

Frigga straightened, her expression tense. “No. No, my son, you are not. You’re Jotunn.”

_There’s nothing to be ashamed of._

“Then Odin has no claim of me,” Loki almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. “None at all, yet, he forces me to return to a kingdom that would never be mine. One that would never love me as much as it loves Thor.”

“Loki,” Frigga’s voice was quiet and urgent. “Are you okay?”

“Of course not,” Loki hissed, “I felt whole for once. With people who wouldn’t blink an eye if I was Jotunn rather than Asgardian. But here, I will be hated all the more. Where is Odin?”

“I don’t—,” she stopped abruptly, head to the air, Loki could feel it too, the pull of the OdinForce.

He stood, angering pulsing through him. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”

“Loki, no,” Frigga grabbed his arm, “Not right now. He is summoning far too much power. He will be weary afterwards. This matter would stress him out too much at the moment.”

“I’m hardly inclined to be considerate right now,” he shook her arm off and marched off to find Odin. It was easy to follow the direction of the Odinforce down to the bifrost. Even from the outside, Loki could hear Odin and Thor shout at each other like a couple of self-absorbed fools. Loki didn’t think twice about intruding on the conversation. “Odin, you owe me an explanation.”

Odin turned on Loki, a wild look in his eye. “You. Why were you not with your brother?”

Loki was taken aback by the question. He replied scathingly, “ _Your_ foolish son is hardly my responsibility.”

Odin pointed gungnir at Loki, booming angrily, “You shall be punished with your brother to teach you the loyalty you lack.”

Loki couldn’t even choke out an outraged yell as heavy metal bracelets flew onto his wrists. Thor was staring at him as well, just as wide-eyed and confused. He saw Thor’s mouth but he couldn’t get a word in before they were sent out the bifrost.

\--- --- --- ---

The land was completely disorienting, he wobbled on his feet, hand reaching out blindly to grab ahold of something to keep him up. Then he heard a loud thud and froze. He only saw the aftermath. Thor on the ground, knocked out and a car coming to a stop. Two women and an old man came out, their expressions stricken.

Loki couldn’t help asking very loudly, “Did you just hit him with your car?”

One of the women blustered out, “I’m so sorry, I swear, I didn’t see him.”

“No, that’s,” Loki cracked a genuine grin, “That’s good. Thank you. I had no idea how much I hoped for that to happen someday.” He kicked Thor’s side. “Get up, buffoon. I can hardly believe that’s enough to kill you.”

Thor stirred, “Lo… ki…?”

“Yes, yes, we’ll wait while your brain restarts.” Loki added in a low mutter, “If it ever started in the first place.”

“Father,” Thor suddenly surged to his feet and grabbed onto Loki’s shoulders. “Father, he, Loki, why.” He was babbling and making no sense at all, however, he was getting louder and more emphatic, waving his arms around until he nearly hit Loki in the face. Thankfully, that’s when one of the women decided to taze him. Thor fell like a rock.

“Darcy,” the other woman exclaimed.

Darcy shrugged, “He was getting a bit too loud. You don’t mind, do you, dude?”

Loki shrugged, “Please tell me that voltage was extremely high. Higher than safety regulations mandate.”

“Just below, actually.”

“Damn.”

“Excuse me,” the other woman interjected, “We just ran over than tazed your… whatever. Shouldn’t we get him to the hospital?”

“Brother,” Loki supplied before he could stop himself. “And no, like I said, I highly doubt any of this was enough to kill him and if it is then he should be left to suffer a humiliating death.”

Darcy laughed, “You’re evil. I like you.”

“Thank you. You’ve made onto my relatively small list of people I like too.” Loki bent down and dutifully picked up Thor, throwing Thor’s arm around his shoulder and hefting him up. “Do you mind giving us a ride into town? I suspect it’d be an awfully long walk.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. I’m Jane.” the other woman introduced herself while leading them to their car. “And this is Doctor Erik Selvig. And this is my assistant, Darcy.”

“A pleasure,” Loki greeted. “I’m Loki and this is my foolish brother, Thor.” He winced minutely when the word ‘brother’ slipped out again. He deposited Thor into the car and sat beside him. Darcy slipped in on the other side and Jane and Dr. Selvig sat into the front.

“So, mind telling us what was with the lights and everything?” Darcy asked.

Loki sighed, “That was the bifrost. A way of traveling between realms.”

“So you’re both aliens,” Darcy concluded.

“By your standards,” Loki conceded.

“Mr. Loki,” Jane said hesitantly, “You wouldn’t mind answering some more questions about that would you? I’ve been studying spatial abnormalities and this bifrost of yours seems to be exactly what I was looking for.”

“Of course,” Loki smiled wryly, recalling the bombardment of questions Tony had once asked. He had wanted to see it in person. Tony. Moriana. Loki glanced at Thor and sighed. “On one condition. I need to leave for New York soon but Thor won’t know what to do with himself if there’s no one to guide him around this planet and culture. Asgardian culture is very different and he’s not very good to adapting to his environment. Please house and guide him while I’m gone.”

“Uh, I don’t know, dude,” Darcy inputted, “I’m not sure I feel too comfortable with that.”

“Thor is essentially a puppy,” Loki assured her, “Spritz him with a bit of water and he’ll get the point.”

“Deal,” Jane said before Darcy could rebut. “That’s fine. You’ll stay around until he wakes up, right? I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to wake up in an unfamiliar place without anyone he knows around.”

“Yes, I suppose I will,” Loki sighed, “I wouldn’t want to burden you with trying to explain this to Thor.”

“Why do you need to go to New York anyway?” Darcy asked. “Got any alien friends there?”

“No,” Loki said wistfully. “Just some humans that I’m dying to see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are awesome and I love hearing from you but I'm kinda gonna tell you to fuck off if you say something rude. I don't really need to post this. I was perfectly happy keeping it to myself or not working on it at all. I don't NEED a comment that's gonna put me a bad mood. So... Yeah, if you have anything not nice to say, drown it in compliments. 
> 
> Also, I have a very vague recollection of the beginning of Thor. If you see any inconsistencies, just know that I really don't care. At all.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor awakens and that brings more issues.

Jane welcomed Loki and the still unconscious Thor into her home and let him lay Thor out on the couch. She hovered over him as he got Thor settled, emanating impatience.

Loki straightened and worked the tension out his shoulders. The braces caught his attention, reminding him of humming beneath his skin. His magic was already warring against the restraints. But, he supposed, that was an issue for another time. “Where would you like to talk?”

“Dining room table, please. I’m going to go get my recorder.” She rushed off.

When she came back, they settled in the kitchen with a bowl of fruit at hand since Loki was feeling peckish and began. She asked all manner of questions about the bifrost and Asgard. Her curiosity reminded him so much of Tony, he couldn’t help but smile at the barrage. A scientist through and through, she didn’t leave any stone unturned. She turned off the recorder when Darcy yelled that Thor was waking.

“Thank you so much,” Jane gushed as they returned to the living room, “I had no idea you would be so knowledgeable the mechanics of the bifrost. Do you study if yourself?”

“I’ve read much about it,” Loki admitted. “As a child, I was fascinated by it and read anything I could get my hands on.” He stood over Thor. He could hear Darcy crunching on chips behind him while Jane took position to his right. Thor twisted and turned then jerked awake.

“Brother,” Thor gasped, “Father, he-“

“Yes, Thor, Odin banished you from Asgard, you’re currently mortal right now. Actually, thanks to you, we’re both mortal and my magic is restricted. I don’t know how your idiocy translated to my punishment as well but,” He felt himself smile slightly, “I am happy to be in Midgard again, ill-suited punishment notwithstanding. I am going to go visit companions that I have not seen for far too long. This is Jane,” Loki motioned to her, “Listen to her. Do everything she says and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find your way back to Asgard. Goodbye, Thor.”

“Loki,” Thor grabbed his arm, big blue eyes stared at him with something akin to betrayal. “You plan to leave? I,” Thor looked pained to admit it but he continued, “I am to blame for our banishment but it seems impossible to me to regain my status on Asgard without your help.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Nonsense, Thor, you’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know anyone on this planet,” Thor argued.

“You know Jane,” Loki reminded him.

“When will you return?”

“I don’t plan to return.”

“But we’re brothers.”

Loki stopped and stared at Thor for a moment, then sighed. “We’re not brothers, Thor. We never were.” He felt at the spell tying Loki to the face the All-Father chose for him. It was so tightly wounded around him, he would have never felt it without it being brought to light. Now that he could feel it, he could disassemble it before Thor’s eyes. Thor jerked away, eyes widening with horror. That hurt more than Loki expected but he needed to know. “It’s clear that you’d rather not have a jotunn brother and I will not burden you with one. Goodbye, Thor.”

“Brother, no,” Thor grabbed him again despite looking uneasy. “I was merely surprised. You are still the same Loki that stood with me in battles and sat with me in lessons. This changes nothing.”

Loki snapped, “This changes everything, Thor. Not just with you but the entirety of Asgard. How am I supposed to return to a home that was never meant to be mine?”

“It is yours,” Thor argued.

“It was _never_ mine,” Loki hissed. “I was never to be as loved and praised as the mighty Thor. I was an outsider from birth and treated like such.”

“How can you say that? Asgard is home to both of us.”

Loki’s eyes flashed dangerously, “You will not tell me where my home is.”

Thor jerked his hand away, hissing with pain as his hand edged on frostbitten blue. “Oh no,” Jane jumped into action, taking his arm and pulling him away, “Thor, we need to treat that immediately. Loki, don’t you dare leave.”

Loki glared after Thor, hands balled into tight fist.

“Um, Loki,” Darcy said hesitantly, “You’re not planning to turn this place into the tundra, are you?”

Loki forced himself to regain control of his temper, for Darcy’s sake if for no one else. “I apologize.”

“No, it’s fine,” Darcy assured him casually, “I’m sensing a lot of family issues here. I’m guessing rarely talked about if ever even mentioned. At all. Without threat of death.”

“Not to Thor,” Loki admitted. He didn’t even know about Loki’s time on Midgard, never mind why he wished to stay. “But he hardly listens anyway. Asgard fills his head with delusions of being invincible. Everything will always go Thor’s way. There’s hardly any need for him to hear something he doesn’t wish to hear.”

“If it makes you feel any better, things aren’t going his way right now,” Darcy said.

Loki blinked at her, “I… suppose you’re right.”

“Course I am.”

Dr. Selvig walked into the room then and looked at Loki. He stared for a minute then looked at Darcy for an explanation.

Darcy simply said, “Loki’s an alien.”

“I see,” Dr. Selvig said, both fascinated and concerned. “You can’t really go out like that.”

“Yes, I know,” Loki found it easier to shift to the form he’s known his entire life than to strip it off.

Jane came back in the room, a dejected Thor following after. She announced, “Thor’s hungry so we’re going to go out and eat. Then we’re going to talk more.”

“Alright,” Darcy cheered, “Everything’s better with food around.”

Jane looked at Loki for confirmation and smiled when he nodded reluctantly. “Good, I know the perfect place.”

‘The perfect place’ ended up being a diner where Loki assume most the patrons couldn’t care less if he turned blue, as long he minded his own business. The ended up in a booth, Loki, Darcy and Dr. Selvig on one side and Thor and Jane on the other. Jane made them wait until they had food in front of them (“you can’t say the first thing that comes to mind while you’re eating”) to talk.

“So Thor and I spoke while we were treating his hand,” Jane began, “And I felt like you both were having a hard time listening to each other’s point of view. So each of you are going to go, one at a time. Any questions can wait until the other is done. Loki, you first. Tell Thor how you _feel_ with no accusations.”

Loki grimaced, “Must I?”

“You did say to do as Lady Jane says, brother,” Thor reminded him smugly.

Loki glared at him but conceded, “I did.” He glanced at Darcy, hoping for some out but she pointed at Thor sternly. Loki finally gave in, “Well, Thor, I feel like Odin placed a claim on me when he had no right to. I am obviously adopted and I should have been told that far sooner rather than be raised to think that I am Asgardian rather than the monster in our bedtime stories. We’re not blood brothers and I would have wanted to be told that sooner so I wouldn’t have constantly compared myself to you. I wish I had known Odin would have never seen me as his own before I found out in a way that hurt more than the discovery of my adoption. It all builds up, Thor, to the point where I will never forgive Odin and would be happy to not see him for the rest of my life but I also feel that,” Loki paused. Thor nodded encouragingly, so obviously intent to hear Loki out. “I feel like once you finally sit down and shut up, it’s shockingly hard to be angry at you.”

Thor lit up at that. “You are no longer angry at me?”

Loki said reluctantly, “Yes, please don’t ruin that.”

“Of course not, brother,” Thor said proudly. “May I ask questions now?”

Loki waved agreement, more exhausted by this emotional openness than he ever was when arguing with Thor.

Thor’s first question was, “Do you think you’re a monster?”

Loki’s eyes snapped to Thor, wide and with a hint of fear. “I,” Loki hesitated, “I think who I am never changed. Even if I am a monster, some monsters have a heart. Some even have souls.”

“But you aren’t a monster,” Thor said firmly.

“You don’t believe that,” Loki argued weakly, “Since we were boys, we were taught the jotunn were to be slayed.”

“We were taught many things as boys that you disagreed with and challenged,” Thor reminded him. “I feel that it is time that I followed your example.”

A small, almost hopeful, smile snuck onto the corner of Loki’s lips. “I suppose it’s your turn, Thor.”

“Yes, it is,” Thor straightened and cleared his throat purposefully, “I feel that you will always be my brother. Even if you reject all of Asgard, I am selfish enough want to be the only one you claim as kin. If you will allow me, I will claim you now, Loki the jotunn, as my brother. As family.”

In the following stunned silence, Darcy chimed, “Ohana means family.”

While Thor looked confused, Loki cursed himself for knowing the second part of that little phrase. “And family means no one gets left behind.”

Darcy gasped with delight, “You’ve watched Lilo and Stitch.”

“I’ve been forced to watch more movies than I care to admit.”

“So you know family is who you let in,” Darcy smiled sweetly even as she made the point Loki just didn’t want to hear.

“Besides, you introduced Thor as your brother,” Jane needlessly reminded him. “I don’t think you’re ready to cut him off either.”

He glared at the two women. “Perhaps, Thor, we can continue to discussion this outside? Away from your advocates.”

“Hey, we’re advocates for both of you,” Darcy corrected, sounding offended, “We just want a happily ever after.”

“We can reach that point without the both of you standing guard,” Loki said dryly, “So kindly let me out of this booth now.” They reluctantly agreed and let the two of them shuffle out the booth.

As they passed a couple of diner customers, one of them said something about an unmovable hammer, laid out in the desert, being blocked off by men in suits. He took in Thor’s rage and whispered, “Mjolnir.”

That was enough to tell Loki that his plans to leave would be delayed even further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Home is a bit farther away than expected.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The invasion begins!!!!

Jane drove them out of the spot where the hammer was roped off. Thor jumped out the car without giving Jane a chance to stop and marched down with unchecked wrath.

“Norns, Thor,” Loki sighed and followed him.

“How dare you touch Mjolnir,” Thor shouted, loudly enough to garner the attention of everyone on site. “That is a slight punishable by Asgardian law.”

Loki muttered angrily, “Fuck’s sake, Thor.” He watched as the agents pulled weapons on Thor, held back only by the command of a calm, shrewd man. He smiled blandly at Thor.

The man said flatly, “I’m sorry, sir, this area has been closed off for investigation. Please refrain from stepping any closer.”

“Thor,” Loki grabbed his arm and glared at him sharply, “Why don’t you stand back so we can handle this diplomatically?”

Thor glowered at Loki, “They’re defiling, Mjolnir.”

“It’s hardly their fault a strange hammer came out of nowhere,” Loki gritted out, “In fact, I distinctly remember your separation being your own fault.”

“You don’t understand, brother—”

“I understand very well, Thor,” Loki interrupted, “You still haven’t learned the meaning of diplomacy. Running headfirst into battle is exactly how you ended up in this mess. Think your actions through.”

Thor clenched his teeth but nodded. He said stiffly to the agent, “I am sorry for being rude but I am Thor and that is my hammer.”

“Thor,” the agent repeated the name reflectively, “I’m Phil Coulson. And you are?” he asked Loki.

“Loki,” he replied with a nod.

“Interesting names. I’d guess your parents were fans of Norse mythology?”

“I’m glad you’re familiar with Norse mythology,” Loki smiled wryly, “Considering they are based off us. You see, Agent, you have Mjolnir from legend in your hold and naturally, my brother wants it back.”

“I would love to,” Coulson said impassively, “But I don’t have the authority to make that decision. You would have to talk to my superiors.”

“Very well. But I would hate to meet them in these rags,” Loki gave him a friendly smile and in a carefully calculated flick of seidr, changed into a dark grin suit with a silver tie. He looked at Thor and replaced his clothes into a black suit. The braces revolted against the his seidr, sending shocks that Loki ignored. Odin was foolish enough to believe pain would break him. He just had to be careful not to draw more than his human body could take. Now would you mind showing us the way?”

Coulson’s eyes gave nothing away as he nodded amicably, “How can I say no when you’re already all dressed up? Barton, get in contact with Director Fury.”

The man named Barton nodded, “Should I tell them that some freaky shit is going on?”

Coulson shrugged slightly, “If you think it’d make them come sooner.”

“It will. Fury loves freaky shit.”

\---- ---- ---- ---- ----

The incentive did seem to work. They were ushered a room among the SHIELD encampment and told to wait. Agent Coulson and Barton stayed in the room with them, along with a few other agents. Not long afterwards, a woman walked through the door, her eyes narrowed on the two of them.

Coulson smiled, “Hello, Agent Hill.”

“Coulson,” she said, “What’s the situation?”

“Well, this is Loki and Thor. They’re Norse gods. The hammer that we found belongs to Thor and he wishes to have it back.”

“Is that so?” she eyed the two. “Exactly where are you two from?”

“We are princes of Asgard,” Thor answered, “Or rather, we were thrown out because I disobeyed my father. Now Mjolnir is not responding to me but she is my hammer and you have no right to take possession of her.”

 “Alright.” Hill looked at Loki, “And what’s your spiel?”

“My idiot brother got into trouble and now I’m cleaning up his mess,” Loki smiled dryly, “There’s not much of a story there.”

“I think there’s a rather fascinating story there,” Coulson commented. “According to the myths, you two aren’t brothers. In fact, Loki is a frost giant.”

Both their eyes widened in surprise, looking at each other before turning their questioning gaze on Coulson. Loki asked, “Does it really? That’s,” Loki paused, then ended thoughtfully, “fascinating, really.”

“But we are brothers,” Thor asserted, glaring at Coulson like he was planning to contest it.

“But not by blood,” Loki admitted. Again, he tore off the face he knew all his life, in a room full of strangers, no less, to prove his own heritage. It was easier this time. Easier to not feel ashamed of what he was or vulnerable. Why should he? If it made others uncomfortable than it only worked to his advantage. He met the impassive eyes of Coulson and smiled. “We prefer the term jotunn.”

“Freaky shit,” Barton muttered.

“My brother is not ‘freaky shit’,” Thor glared at Barton. “Yes, he is jotunn but he is still my brother.”

For once, Thor’s pigheadedness made Loki smile. “Yes, Thor, we know.”

Thor brightened up immensely, “Good.”

“Why exactly did your dad choose to send you here?” A man stepped into the room, a black eyepatch and disapproving stare that reminded Loki far too much of Odin was leveled on him. “We have enough problems without you two being grounded here.”

“And we have enough problems without you disturbing Thor’s hammer,” Loki shot back. “Just promise to leave it alone and we’ll be gone.”

“Gone to do what, exactly?” Fury asked suspiciously.

“Whatever the All-Father sent us to do,” Loki lied through his teeth, “There must be some great quest that we must embark on if he sent us here, some danger approaching. The All-Father’s wisdom is not to be questioned. You mortals will need our help in some way.”

Fury and Coulson exchanged worried glances, instantly setting Loki on edge. “Surely you don’t need Thor or I in your hair,” Loki continued, watching their expressions carefully, “Thor only knows how to get into trouble and I’m awfully mischievous when I’m bored. Who knows what we’ll stumble across.”

The exchange of glanced again, tightening around the corner of Fury’s mouth, a flicker of concern in Coulson’s eyes.

“Your precious hammer is safer with our perimeter around it,” Fury decided, “I’ll withdraw most our agents. We’ll need some way to contact you in case more Asgardian bullshit pops up.”

“I would prefer a Stark phone, if you’d be so kind,” Loki smiled genially. “I grew a fondness for them when I last visited.”

Thor blinked at him, “You’ve visited Midgard before?”

“Your lack of observational skills never ceases to amaze me, Thor.” The words barely left his lips when he felt a shift in the room. He stiffened, “There’s a magic user somewhere.”

The entire room went on alert. “Where?” Fury demanded.

“I don’t know,” the blasted restraints were muffling his ability to feel the seidr around him.

Hill’s hand flew to her earpiece. She told Fury urgently, “There’s an axe-wielding manic that’s demanding we give him the tesseract in the Western Division. Bullets are bouncing of some type of shield. Everyone’s been ordered to evacuate.”

Fury growled lowly, “Coulson, double the security on the tesseract. You two,” he looked at Thor and Loki, “are you going to be any use to us?”

Thor stood, expression stormy, “Yes and after we have eliminated the threat, you will tell us why you have the tesseract. It was not meant to fall into mortal hands.”

Fury glared but remained silent. He turned around, his coat flaring dramatically, and walked swiftly out the room.

Thor took his silence as confirmation and stood to follow. “Come, brother, it is time for battle.”

Loki walked by his side and summoned a sword from Asgard and his own staff, somehow enjoying how Thor lit up more than he despised the pain.

“I haven’t seen this sword in years,” Thor marveled. He weighed the sword in his hand and grinned at Loki, “This is going to be just like old times, don’t you think, brother?”

“Hardly,” Loki scoffed, “Do try not to get yourself killed. You’re mortal now. You actually have to be careful this time.”

Thor laughed, “When am I anything but?”

Loki rolled his eyes and quickened his pace, biting down a smile.

They boarded a plane with Fury and Hill while Coulson boarded another. Loki listened closely to the orders Fury was throwing around, attempting to get a better feel for the situation. Nothing seemed to connect. Until they arrived on site. The helicopter hovered over the ground, searching for a place free of people and hubris to land.

“Skurge,” Thor growled.

“I must have felt Amora then,” Loki reasoned.

“Who the hell are Skurge and Amora?” Fury questioned, suitably angry.

“Asgardians that do not know their place,” Thor bit out. Then he jumped out the helicopter.

Loki followed after, muttering vehemently, “If he gets himself I killed, I will drag him out of Valhalla by his ear.”

Thor charged at Skurge like a bull, sword at the ready. Skurge turned around and swung at Thor with his axe. Thor attempted to block it with his sword but found himself being thrown against a wall because of the force behind it.

Loki shouted, “You’re mortal, for norns sake, you’re not as strong as you were before.”

Thor groaned.

“I hope you broke something,” Loki replied while admitting to himself that he was being a tad bit childish. He dodged easily as Skurge came charging at him. “Where’s Amora, Skurge?”

Loki found himself being completely ignored and attacked again. Skurge’s movements were wider than usual, clumsy. They caused chaos well enough but there was no aim beyond that. Loki questioned carefully as he dodged again, “Why are you here, Skurge?”

“I’m more curious about you, trickster,” Amora appeared on Skurge’s shoulders, smiling wickedly, “I could understand Thor attempting to be a hero to the mortals but the trickster I know would no sooner be a hero than I.”

Loki watched her carefully, eyes lingering on the scepter she held. Even with the muffling of the restraints, he could feel the power emanating from the eye of it. Of all the things Amora could get her hands on, it had to be the mind stone. “I’ve found that there are worst things to be. What exactly are you trying to achieve, Amora?”

“I’ve come up with the most ingenious idea,” Amora said gleefully. “I will rule the mortals. Then the All-Father will have no choice but to let Thor marry me.”

“Fascinating theory,” Loki drawled, “But there are several, rather large holes in your plan and while I would love to point them all out, I simply do not have the time. It just won’t work, Amora. You can’t have Midgard. You can’t even have Thor. So please stop this nonsense before it’s too late to turn back.”

Amora’s eyes glowed green with fury, “I will have Thor. And I’ll have Asgard and Midgard kneel before me.”

“You’ll have a solitary cell and I may visit you on occasion.”

“You. Will. Kneel.” Amora sent out uncharacteristically blue surge of magic out the staff at Loki. He could feel the power behind it, stronger than he could handle with the measly amount of power he could slip through the restraints.

Before he could try to shield himself, Thor was in front of him, standing form against the blast. Then, when they looked up, Amora and Skurge were gone.

Thor was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted.

“Thor,” Loki let Thor lean on him, “How…?”

Thor motioned towards the sword that he was now letting drag on the ground. “You enchanted it yourself, brother. Remember? It absorbs magic or something of the like.”

Loki looked at the sword, slightly stunned. He did forget about that.

“Thor, Loki,” Fury approached them from behind, “Congratulations, you’re officially part of the Avengers initiative. I want everything you know about those two. Especially the mind-control bullshit Coulson says he saw. We need to find out exactly what they plan to do with the tesseract.”

“She has it?” Loki said incredulously. Then he slapped his forehead, “Of course, that’s why Skurge was wreaking havoc. She needed to know where it was at.”

“Yes and now she has some of our people following her around like puppies,” Fury told them. Fury turned and said into his earpiece, “I don’t care what the WSC says. Earth is at war. The Avengers are our best bet.”

\--- ---- ---- ---- -----

Tony knocked on the door and waited for the faint ‘come in.’

Jarvis turned down the music as soon as he walked into Mori’s room. Peter muttered a greeting from her desk while he did something on her computer while Mori was sprawled out on her bed.

“Pipsqueak, Mori, I’m going to be working on something new starting tomorrow,” he began. “It’s sort of a consulting job outside of SI. I’m not really sure what the hours are going to be so I’m just warning you now. I may be gone for days on end.”

They both looked up at him, surprised and curious then they glanced at each other.

Mori nodded slowly, “Alright. How long is this job going to last?”

Tony shrugged, “Depends on how quickly we make progress. I want you to eat dinner with Aunt May and Peter at least twice a week while I’m working on this. Pipsqueak, if you let anything happen to my daughter, I will dismember you.”

Peter cried indignantly, “Have we forgotten that she can kick my ass?”

“I mean protect her from herself too. No okaying horrendous ideas.”

Peter paused and nodded thoughtfully, “Fair enough.”

“And you,” he pointed at Mori, “Take care of Pipsqueak. Also, no okaying horrendous ideas.”

Mori gave him a thumbs up, “Got it.”

“Good,” Tony was almost satisfied. “Jarvis, make sure they know when something is a horrendous idea.”

The AI answered readily, “Of course, sir.”

“Good. Well,” he walked over and kissed Mori’s forehead. Then paused and kissed her nose. “Thank you.”

She scrunched up her nose, “For what?”

Tony shrugged, smiling, “Being my daughter.” He walked over and ruffled Peter’s hair, “Did you take your aunt’s car or do you need a ride home?”

“I drove,” Peter patted his hair down, eyeing Tony questioningly, “You alright, Tony?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair more just to see him huff and try to fix it, “I just like having people I want to protect. You know, ohana and stuff. I’ll be in my lab if you need me. See you later.”

“See ya, dad.” “Bye, Tony.” They watched him leave, closing the door behind himself.

Peter went back to typing. A comfortable silence descended for the moment while they went back to occupying themselves. Then Peter suddenly asked, “You are going to bug him, right?”

Mori scoffed, “Of course I am. What type of daughter do you take me for?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't fact check me with any of this. This is my first time diving into the meatier parts of Avengers. I barely watched the movie (me, huge Avenger fan, admitting to having skimmed the first movie). Also, I don't know if I should try to make this clear but MORI AND PETER ARE NOT DATING. I feel like someone is going to assume they are because in her room with the door closed and you're raised by conservative parents or the heteronormality is strong with you. Tony totally recognizes that this is just a friendship. Jarvis can confirm that's it's just friendship. Friends.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, philanthropist, father.
> 
> Otherwise known as Avengers Assemble and Fury's so not in charge.

Loki sat in the meeting room beside Thor, waiting for his fellow ragtag individuals that were meant to make up the Avengers to trickle in. Barton was there as well, playing with the arrows to one of his bows and talking with Thor. The room was crawling with SHIELD agents attempting to get everything in order. Fury was in the middle of all of it, yelling orders.

The moment Captain America stepped in, Loki thought, ‘Midgardian Thor.’ He had certain heard enough about the man for the comparison to be viable. Behind him came Bruce Banner, a man of science and incredible anger issues. The man tried so hard to appear small, Loki was immediately fascinated. And lastly, Agent Romanov slipped smoothly into the room. The Black Widow was as silent as her namesake, not a fly on the wall but a threat that goes unnoticed.

“Looks like everybody’s here,” Fury announced. “I’m sure you all read the briefings.”

“I would love to read my own,” Loki said, “I suppose it must have been hastily written.”

“It says that you’re a god,” Rogers said uneasily. “From Norse mythology.”

“Indeed we are, Captain,” Thor smiled broadly at him. “I enjoyed reading of your victories in battle. You are worthy shield-brother indeed.”

Roger’s cheeks pinked, “Well, thank you, I guess. It’s nothing really, I’m just a soldier.”

Thor’s response was interrupted by Fury growling, “What the hell is he doing here?”

He was talking into his earpiece and looking completely infuriated. “Kick him out… I don’t care if he’s threatening to sue. What do you mean he’s been granted access? By who?” Another pause. “Fine, send him in so I can kick his ass out myself.”

The doors opened a second later and Tony walked in like a force of nature in a three-piece suit and red tinted sunglasses. He was holding a tablet as he walked in, poking at it like he used to when walking into a SI meeting.

“Sorry, I’m late, air traffic was a killer,” he grinned cheekily at Fury.

Fury seethed, “What are you doing here, Stark?”

“I figured my invitation got lost in the mail,” Tony said snidely. “Wow, is this a turn out. Dr. Banner, I am a huge fan. Your paper on anti-electron collisions was incredible. And I also like how you turn into a huge rage monster.” He bee-lined for the man and shook his hand robustly.

“Wait, Stark?” Rogers asked, eyes widening.

“Yes, as in Howard Stark. I believe you knew my father,” Anthony shook his hand as well, “I did too, didn’t like him.”

He finally met Loki’s eyes, tension coiled in his shoulders. “Loki.”

“Anthony,” Loki said, mouth dry. “Why are you here?”

Anthony’s eyes hardened, “Because someone was threatening my planet.”

“You two know each other?” Romanov asked, although it wasn’t so much of a question as a demand for explanation.

“Anthony hosted my last trip to Earth,” Loki explained vaguely. He said to Anthony, “You shouldn’t be involved. This is dangerous.”

“Come on, Loki, you of all people know exactly why I’m involving myself,” Anthony walked closer. He hoovered just out of arm’s reaching. Loki yearned for him to come closer. “And seriously, an invitation from you would have been nicer than finding out about all this myself.”

Loki dropped to a fierce whisper, “If you’re involved, Moriana will be as well.”

Tony inched forward, voice dropping low, “I’m keeping her in the dark with this.”

Loki leaned closer, “Like you tried to keep her in the dark with sex?”

Tony huffed but his lip twitched in amusement, “She had access to the internet. I was fighting a losing battle. So,” Tony paused, really looking at him, “You really were watching.”

“I couldn’t turn away for a second.”

Tony’s smile was small but relieved, “So you watched me fumble through the sex talk in HD?”

The smile did Loki in completely. He pulled Tony into a kiss. It was comforting and warm and a bit dirtier than he was expecting but he wasn’t going to discourage Anthony’s enthusiasm.

When they finally parted, Barton commented, “And by host, I guess you meant shacked up.”

Tony shrugged and settled on Loki’s arm rest, “Pretty much.” He grinned at Steve’s red face and Thor’s shock. “Sorry for the show. By the way, nice to meet you, Thor. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Thor stuttered out, “Y-you as well.”

“We don’t need you distracting any of our people, Stark,” Fury scowled, “If that’s all you came to do then get out.”

Tony shook his head, “No can do, Fury. You can use my help.”

Fury gritted out, “We don’t need you.”

“Here that babe? They don’t need me,” he smirked. “Just like you don’t need any of your Stark tech, right?” Tony fiddled with his tablet again, “Let’s see what SI tech you have here. I’m seeing several guns, different models, my favorite is the S-014. Nice choice, Hill. There’s also, oops,” the lights went off, then, with a flick of Tony’s finger, they came back on. “Sorry, Stark lights.”

“Enough, Stark.” Fury looked constipated, lips pursed tightly.

“What? You said you don’t need me. I’m just telling you all the things you can apparently do without. Look, Fury, I know we don’t know each other all that well but,” Tony flicked his finger and every computer screen in the room went off, “You really do want me on your side.”

Hill asked uneasily, “How can you do that?”

“Well, after finding out an old buddy of mine was selling Stark weapons behind my back, I decided I needed to keep a closer eye on everything and where it goes. This whole thing with controlling them was me getting carried away but it’s certainly nice.” Tony turned the computers back on. He yelled to some agent, “Sorry for interrupting your Galaga game. Hope you weren’t about to get a high score or something.” A weak ‘that’s okay’ made it back to them.

If Loki hadn’t been completely enamored before, he was now far too deep to even care. Tony was always the type of man to bring the world to his knees should he need to. However, Loki never imagined actually seeing this part of him in action. Agent Romanov was glaring at him like he was a threat she didn’t dare dispose of. Fury was stumped into silence. Rogers was staring at Anthony like he couldn’t believe a single man could have so much power. Barton was impressed. And Thor, Thor was looking between the two of them like he suddenly understood exactly what was happening.

The following silence was broken when Thor said, “You suit my brother well.”

That surprised a laugh out of Tony, “Thanks, thunder thighs. I certainly have that ‘godly’ thing in common.”

“So modesty isn’t why we haven’t seen you in sixteen years,” Agent Romanov commented, her eyes narrowed, “Why haven’t we seen you? Perfecting your plan to take over the world?”

“Nah, I could do that overnight,” Tony said and really, it wasn’t a lie. “You haven’t seen me because I didn’t want to be seen. Simple as that.”

 “Even SHIELD couldn’t find you.”

Tony snorted, “Lady, you are severely underestimating my genius. If Tony Stark doesn’t want to be found, Tony Stark will not be found. It’s really a very simple concept. Can we get to the problem with the tesseract? Not the one where you had it or what you planned to do with it. Just the ‘it being gone’ part.” 

Fury’s good eye twitched. “It was stolen by an Asgardian called Amora. A magic user. Her and her thrall,” Fury said the word with obvious disgust, “Skurge, plus her ability to make brainwashed slaves out of anyone she meets makes for a bitch of a problem. Especially since she wants to rule the planet to prove worthy enough to be Thor’s bride.”

Thor looked embarrassed when everyone turned to look at him.

“Amora,” Tony said reflectively, “Didn’t you tell me about her at some point?”

Loki answered dryly, “Does the words ‘short-sighted’ and ‘horrible taste in men’ come to mind? If so, yes, that was her.”

“See, this does sound incredibly short-sighted,” Anthony said thoughtfully, “I mean, steal the tesseract then take over the earth? There has to be a step two somewhere here. She can’t mind control the entire planet into submission.”

“She’d need an army,” Loki finished, sitting up. “Even then, why would she need the tesseract? The staff she’s using holds the mind stone. With her own ability, plus the stone, she could mind control an entire army. The tesseract is a gate. Why go out of her way to steal a gate before doing anything else?”

“Her army must be elsewhere. A borrowed army that requires less mental maintenance,” Anthony stated.

“Where would she get an army from?”

“Who told her taking over Earth was a good idea?”

“Who already had the mind stone then decided they wanted the tesseract as well?”

“What else would they be after?” Tony rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, new mission objective, let’s try to get the name of her boss out of her.”

“Preferably without using any indication that they are her superior,” Loki added, “She was mostly likely manipulated into thinking they are equals.”

“Don’t you hate when they actually believe that?”

“Now, now, darling, you know they’re never chosen for their intelligence.” It settled something in Loki to feel Tony by his side, bantering playfully, experiencing every quip, private smile and throaty laugh for himself instead of just _watching_. He could even reach out if he’d like, feel the touch he knew by heart.

“So does anyone have anything to add?” Fury asked, jolting Loki out of his thoughts. “Before Stark’s head gets even bigger?”

“What’s the plan?’ Rogers asked, “How are we going to stop her?”

“Banner is working on tracing the gamma radiation while we come up with a plan of attack,” Fury looked relieved to have control of the conversation again. “Stark, I want you working with Banner. Hill, direct them to the lab.”

Hill straightened, “Yes sir. Come with me, boys.” She turned and left out.

Tony stood to follow but his parting words to Loki were, “You better not leave without saying anything to me. We still have a shit-ton of stuff to talk about. In fact, if a tiny paranoid voice at the back of my head implies that you plan to leave, I’m putting the entire helicarrier on lock-down. Fury’s head will explode from irritation. We don’t want Fury’s head exploding, now, do we?”

“Of course not,” Loki rose Tony’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles, “I wouldn’t dare leave without you.” _Never again._

Tony smiled, relieved. “I’ll kick your ass if you do,” he kissed Loki’s cheek, the familiar, somewhat grayer goatee brushing his cheek. “See you in a minute, babe.”

Loki watched him until he was out of sight. Even then, he stared at the place Tony once was, wishing that there weren’t other matters to deal with. After all this time, they had to meet under such dire circumstances.

“Dude, you are fucking gone for Stark,” Clint said, breaking through his thoughts. “You guys weren’t even shacking up, were you? You were like married or something.”

“I agree, brother, I’ve never seen you so enamored,” Thor looked confused. “Why haven’t you introduced him to Asgard?” The ‘or to me’ was left unsaid.

Loki answered curtly, “Odin didn’t approve.”

Thor’s mouth dropped open, honestly dumbfounded, “Why not?”

“I won’t burden you with the politics of the matter.” Loki said, biting back a more derisive comment. He couldn’t forever blame Thor for Odin’s choices. “Let’s just say Odin hates it when he doesn’t have everyone leashed. He very promptly found a way to separate us.”

Thor frowned thoughtfully and went silent. Then he murmured quietly, “He was being unjust.”

The words shocked Loki. For once, Thor admitted that Odin was wrong about something. Though, his surprise may be unwarranted. They were only on Midgard because Thor decided to challenge Odin’s judgment. “I’m glad you agree.”

 “As fascinating as this mellow drama is, we have a sorceress declaring war on earth,” Fury reminded them. “Now, how can we beat her?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I swear, I just couldn't get this chapter right. What did you think? I'm feeling a bit of Steve/Thor going on but I'm not really big on that ship. I mean, I kinda like it but don't know if I'm going to do that. 
> 
> btw, there's no Iron Man in this universe, in case that wasn't clear. I don't think he needs Iron Man to be more useful to the Avengers than SHIELD is. So big talk coming next chapter, Tony finds out about the jotunn thing and more of Amora's tricks. See ya next time.
> 
> btw, btw, I love giving Thor a break while reminding him of how stupid he is. Is he a hundred percent off the hook? Of course not, he will never be, but he's learning and he gets points for that.
> 
> btw, btw, btw, CLINT IS IN THE GAME. ALL PLAYERS TO THEIR STARTING POINTS, TIME TO KICK ASS.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wouldn't believe how much this chapter was just not going to happen. I lost inspiration, then I forgot about it, then I remembered, then I was too lazy, then I was working on something else, but I dunno, I suddenly decided to get this out. Even if it is shorter than I expected.

To put it nicely, this group couldn’t agree on a flavor of ice cream, never mind a plan to take down Amora. The dear Captain didn’t agree with any of Loki’s methods, Thor agreed with all of the Captain’s methods, Barton wasn’t contributing anything more than a headache, and Fury had a one-track mind that he wouldn’t grieve for if it did explode. The Widow was the only one he found himself occasionally agreeing with.

So they took a break.

Loki headed straight down the hallway to the labs Tony and Dr. Banner occupied. When he walked in, Tony was rambling on about something and Dr. Banner actually seemed interested in what he was saying. Loki decided right then that he liked Banner.

“Interrupt him if he gets too much,” Loki told him, “He tends to get lost in his own brilliance.”

Tony lit up, “Hey, honeybun, how’s it going in the kids’ room?”

“We’re arguing like children,” Loki said with a long-suffering sigh. “How are things going in here?”

“Right on track,” Banner answered with a mild smile.

“It’d be a quicker track if we were in my lab,” Tony complained, “SHIELD is so stingy with toys. Speaking of, Bruce, I have to show you my lab. Science bros let science bros see their labs and you’re officially a science bro.”

Bruce glanced hesitantly at Loki, “I’m not sure…”

“I insist,” Tony persisted, nudging Bruce’s shoulder, “It’s beautiful. There are toys as far as the eye can see. I might even let you see what I’ve been getting up to behind closed doors,” Tony winked with a sly grin. “SI is just the tip of the iceberg, Bruce.”

“Darling, don’t bombard him,” Loki said fondly.

“Oh, right,” Tony stepped back, “I’ll give you space to think, totally your choice, big guy, but you’d sort of be crazy to turn this down.”

Bruce smiled slowly and shrugged, “Maybe when this is all over.”

Tony whooped, “Good choice, Brucey.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Loki cut in gently, “I believe you said we have a shit-ton to talk about. Maybe we should get it out of the way now.”

“Oh,” Tony sobered, “Yeah. Think you’ll be alright on your own, Bruce?”

Bruce waved him away, “Stay here. I’ll go get food or something.”

“You’re the best,” Tony said gratefully.

After Bruce left, there was a tense silence. Tony watched him, waiting for him to make the first move despite the hundreds of questions that must having been buzzing through his head. Loki couldn’t tell whether or not he felt grateful for that.

“I’m not leaving again,” Loki ended up saying before his mind even settled on the words. He hurried to explain, “Odin has invalidated his own law by banishing me and Thor here. And even if he hadn’t, he has no hold, no right over me any longer. He would hurt himself more if he tried to exercise his power as king over a,” Loki paused, unsure why it was suddenly difficult to say. He knew Tony would be the last person to condemn his birthplace. At the back of his mind, though, he knew this could change the romantic aspect of relationship.

“Over a what?” Tony looked curious and concerned. “You can tell me anything, Loki.”

“I know,” Loki assured him, “I just discovered that I’m adopted. I was born in a place called Jotunheim.”

“Oh, Loki,” Tony said sympathetically, “Odin’s just an entire bag of dicks, isn’t he?”

Loki chuckled, “Indeed. But the reason I tell you that is because Odin changed my appearance after taking me from there. It was a spell tied so tightly to me that I didn’t notice until a frost giant brought it to the surface.”

Tony moved closer and took his hand. He radiated warmth and acceptance. He commanded firmly, “Show me.”

Loki obeyed almost instinctively. He let his Asgardian skin fall and stared at Tony with bright red eyes.

Tony’s mouth dropped open in shock. His eyes roamed over Loki, taking in every inch of his jotunn form. He said breathlessly, “Fuck me.”

Loki chuckled humorlessly, “I know, it’s disgusting but this is what I truly am.”

“No, I’m serious, fuck me, here, one sec, I’ll lock the doors,” Tony fumbled for his tablet. “I spent the last six years with my nothing but my hand and a spank bank and now you’ve come back telling me you’ve leveled up in the sex god department? Please, just fuck me. Ah, I should turn off the cameras too. Unless you think this is worth keeping because Jarvis can just retrieve it once we’re done.”

“Anthony,” Loki huffed a laugh, too choked up on his fondness to say more.

Tony’s expression immediately softened. “What, you thought I’d be less in love with you because you happen to be blue?”

“How could I have expected anything else?”

Tony pulled Loki into a kiss that was half lust and half assurance. It had the same harried, fast pace that Tony seemed to love, a devouring kiss that Loki slowed teasingly. Tony huffed impatiently and broke the kiss to glare at him. “Are we really playing this game?”

Loki grinned, “I have absolutely no idea what you mean.”

“Avengers,” Fury suddenly shouted over the intercom, “Get the fuck in here.”

Tony groaned, “That’s a boner killer.”

Loki snorted and laughed, “Later, darling. We have a planet to save.”

 

\--- --- --- ---

“So,” Peter drawled, “Although this sounds like a fantastic idea in theory, I’m not so sure when it comes to practice.”

“Oh shut up,” Mori huffed, staring down the side of the building.

The teenagers were atop a New York building, hopefully too high to draw attention. Peter wore his Spiderman suit while Mori wore the jacket Loki gave her as a tightfitting jacket with a neck long enough to cover her mouth. She held her skateboard in a tight grip. She had designed the board herself with a silver wolf pattern and that wheels retracted with enough pressure. She stood with one foot on it. “Ready?”

Peter nodded reluctantly, “Tony’s going to kill me.”

“Only if this doesn’t work,” she assured him. She stared down a beat longer then took a deep breath, “Okay, totally doing this.”

“I don’t understand why though.”

“Why do you swing around in spandex?”

“Touché,” Peter sighed.

Without another word, she kick-flipped off the building. She dropped a couple of floors before she gained her bearings enough to at least stop herself from dropping more, trying to maintain constant air pressure beneath her board. She said into her ear comm, “Okay, this is not going badly. I think I’m going to try moving.”

Peter answered, “If you die, I die.”

“Please be careful, miss,” Jarvis’ worried voice sounded from the comm as well. “Mr. Parker isn’t the only one who will be killed if you hurt yourself.”

“I totally got this, Jarvis,” she assured him, a slight tremor of uncertainty in her voice. “Okay, I’m going up.” Mori worked on increasing the pressure beneath her board so she’s rise, trying to ignore how the unfamiliar height unsettled her. Then a pigeon flew past her, ruining her concentration completely.

She plummeted a few feet before she was snatched out of the air. She hurriedly caught her skateboard out of mid-air in the process. Peter quipped, “Did someone call for a hero?”

Mori retorted, “I could have saved myself.”

“And I could have been murdered by your father,” Peter replied. They swung back to the top of the building. “So, think we should call it a day?”

“That was just my first go,” Mori reminded him. “I have to at least maim myself before I call it a day." Mori set her skateboard back down at the edge.

Peter watched, resigned. “That fall really didn’t scare you a bit, did it?”

“Of course it did. But you should never allow fear to spoil your fun.”

She kickflipped off the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kissing scenes are not my forte.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahaha heya, it's been a while. A long while. And I have no excuses. So just enjoy this, my pals.

Peter hovered over Mori as she worked on her glasses. The program was running fine but the display still needed some tweaking. These glasses were thicker than her usual ones due to the additional software but she was always a fan of the hipster style anyway.

Peter asked curiously, “Do you really think this will work?”

Mori nodded while trying them on. Graphs appeared before her eyes. Her shoulders relaxed slightly. After being raised by Tony Stark, data always felt safe. “I’m guessing when I jump off a building and now we see that I’m constantly underestimating how much I need. This way, I’ll know exactly how much air pressure I’ll need to apply.”

“Okay,” Peter sat down and looked at his phone, “It’s probably not a good idea to try it out this late. Tony may be home soon.”

“Right, dad. Jarvis, can you play the audio from dad’s bug?”

Jarvis said reluctantly, “I’m not sure that’s a very good idea.”

Mori returned, “Exactly how many good ideas have I had today?”

Jarvis’ immediate reply was, “We can bring that count up to one if you let your father have his privacy.”

Mori almost laughed, “Yeah, absolutely not. Play the audio, please.”

Jarvis let out an audible sigh before the voice of an unfamiliar man filled the room. “What would Amora want with Dr. Selvig?”

Another man answered, “Dr. Selvig was the man Shield was using to study the tesseract.”

Mori and Peter glanced at each other.

Mori stiffened when she heard another voice say, “She needs help opening the gate.”

She said lowly, “That’s Loki.”

“What? Loki Loki? Your Loki?”

“Yes, my Loki,” she snapped, “What is he doing on earth?”

“Okay, we need to switch tactics,” Tony finally spoke up, “Loki, what can we do to track Amora’s magic?”

“Magic?” Peter questioned, “Did he just say magic? Mori, this sounds serious. Maybe we should go,” he stopped when he noticed her shaking her head.

“We can’t get involved yet,” she told him. “We don’t want to let them know we’re getting involved too soon. We’ll go over the audio then make a plan they can’t shut down.”

Peter looked surprised. “I did not expect that from you. Your plan of attack is usually attack.”

She nodded slightly in agreement. “But you know my dad. We're the last ones he'd go to for help, even if he knows he needs it. We can't give him the chance to shut us out. If Loki is here, this is something big. Asgardian big.”

 ---------

Loki frowned thoughtfully at Tony’s question, “I believe we should be asking you that question. Her magic doesn’t differ from mine so immensely that you could not use the data you gathered from me.”

Tony tapped at his tablet, his expression inscrutable. “You told me yourself that there are some signature elements of your seidr.” Tony waved him over and Loki came easily. Tony lowered his voice to a mumble, “I tried cross examining my readings from your magic and from Mori’s magic. I had her make that little green ball that you used to make but her readings overlapped yours completely.” Tony showed him a series of graphs, green and gold overlapping to prove his point. “I have her make herself float and it _under_ lapped yours. It looked exactly like yours until it fell off completely.” The next set of graphs again showed the gold matching him tick to tick until it evened out or dropped off where his was erratic or spiked higher.

Loki swallowed, his mind moving rapidly to make sense of this new information. Moriana should not have been able to replicate his magic so completely. What was even odder about the second set was that her magic showed nothing of her personality. He could see the chaos of seidr in the graph lines but nothing of Moriana’s own chaos. He said quietly, “Use Moriana’s readings.”

Tony nodded and tapped at his tablet. Then his eyes went wide and he angled it towards Loki. There was a yellow pulsing circle around the entire earth. Loki gave Tony a questioning look.

Tony hissed quietly, “It’s the earth. She’s literally a child of the earth.”

“Got anything to share with the class?” Fury interrupted loudly.  

Tony glanced down at his tablet then, in a, quite frankly, adorable panic, hugged it to his chest to hide the screen then shook his head rapidly. “Nothing at all. Just, uh, need to refine the search a bit. One second.” He went back to typing at his tablet intently. “Okay, highest seidr output is in Stuttgart, Germany.”

Loki felt smug when he saw the stunned amazement being directed at the love of his life. Tony hid away from the world for the sake of his daughter, letting his brilliance bloom in the darkness. Now the world was catching a glimpse of what his mind could do.

Fury asked, almost skeptically, “Are you sure about this, Stark?”

“Am I sure?” Tony echoed, sounding vaguely offended. “I don’t know. Want to get your own data out so we can compare notes?”

“Okay but how are you getting all that from a tablet?” Barton asked, looking over Tony’s shoulder. “Do you have an app or something?”

Tony snorted, “It’s connected to my computer in my lab. It can do things that would blow your mind, Barton.”  

“Avengers, grab a comm and get to a jet,” Fury ordered before Barton could respond. “Banner, Stark, we still want you on radiation detection. Romanov,” Fury nodded towards Tony meaningfully.

The little spider was at Tony’s side within seconds. She stated succinctly, “We’ll need the tablet to keep track of the enchantress.”

Tony smiled thinly, “Funny. You might want to get started on making one then.”

Romanov’s eyes narrowed, “It’s for the best, Mr. Stark. It will be returned to you as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, as soon as you’re done snooping.” Tony looked up and met Loki’s gaze. “Do you think you’ll need it?”

Loki admitted reluctantly, “We might.”

“Okay,” Tony handed it to him while stretching up to kiss his cheek. “Be safe. Oh, and don’t let Romanov near it for a second. Call me crazy but I’m not ready to pencil her down as trustworthy.”

Loki looked past Tony at Romanov’s carefully impassive face.  According to Tony and Jarvis, SHIELD hadn’t given up looking for the Starks, even in the recent years. But it was more than just Tony. Tony could be contacted through SI. It was where he rested his head and felt safest that they were looking for. Loki wasn’t ready to trust such an intrusive organization either. He nodded solemnly, “She won’t be given any such opportunity.”

“Good,” Tony smiled confidently, “Well, I’ll be playing with SHIELD’s mediocre toys. Kick her ass for me.”

“That is the plan,” Loki assured him warmly. He watched Tony leave the room while the eyes of SHIELD agents settled in the tablet in his arms. Once Tony was out of sight, his eyes roamed the room slowly, sizing up the vultures around him, then settled on the little spider. He smiled with mock enthusiasm, “Shall we?”

She responded with a smile that could dry paint. “The jets are this way.”

When he entered the jet, Barton was sitting at the pilot’s seat, preparing the jet for take-off. He glanced back just long enough to ask, “Do I have to sleep with Stark to get one of those?”

Loki answered casually as he settled in one of the chairs, “Try and you’ll lose a limb.”

Barton gave that some thought. “Which one? I might be willing to give up a leg.”

Loki asked the Captain, “Is it necessary for him to come along? And if so, how much damage can he take before he’s no longer of use?”

Rogers didn’t seem sure of how to answer that question. “Please don’t damage our teammate.”

Loki tsked, “Teammate is a strong word, Captain.”

Thor said, giddy as a child, “We are now shield-brothers.”

“And shield-brothers is an even stronger word,” though leave it to Thor to deem a ragtag group he just met worthy of the title. “I would prefer a word that doesn’t suggest voluntary association.”

Clint asked curiously, “Do you have to be a condescending ass?”

Thor’s words overlapped his as they answered, “It seems so.”

Loki jerked up and glared at Thor.

Thor just smiled sheepishly, “We’ve found something we both agree on.”

Clint was still snickering as they took flight.

 

Stuttgart was peaceful when they landed on top of the German lab Tony’s tablet led them to. Loki tucked the tablet away in a dimensional hole and stepped out the jet slowly with the rest of the Avengers.

“Maybe Stark was wrong,” Romanov said.

“Don’t be so quick to think she would make a mess of things,” Loki told her. “Amora wouldn’t announce her location if she wasn’t in a position to gloat.”

“Hey, there A team,” Tony’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear. All of their ears if the matching startled reactions were to be trusted.

Romanov said darkly, “You shouldn’t have access to these comms.”

“Okay, I’m going to laugh at that later,” Tony assured her, “But for now, I currently have the blueprints of that building that you do need to get into if you’re going to catch Amora. I currently have control of the cameras within the building and turned off the security. Please tell me there’s at least one lock-pick among you.”

Romanov was unlocking the roof door before he finished his sentence and leading them down the stairs.

“Good,” Tony said, “Now, one, no one really called ahead and told them not to shoot at you. Ridiculous, I know, but apparently no one listens to genius billionaires here. Two, Amora is heading down to the vault with Dr. Schafer and two security guards. We’re still not sure what she wants but try to make sure that she doesn’t get it. Loki, I emailed a copy of the blueprint to, well, myself. Take Nat for back up.”

Loki took grabbed the tablet out of the dimensional hole and commanded, “Show me the blueprint.” He immediately felt guilty about yelling at Jarvis before he even had a chance to greet the AI. He murmured, “I apologize for yelling. Thank you, Jarvis.”

A small, _Welcome back, Mr. Odinson,_ appeared in the corner of the screen.

Loki smiled briefly, then straightened and held his hand out for Natasha to hold. She grabbed it without a word and he teleported them both straight to the vault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY didn't want to end this chapter like this. But... I did. Cause I'm terrible at writing and just wanted to end the chapter before my brain did a fart noise. Sorry for the long wait, pals.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The action episode with action stuff and action people doing action things. 
> 
> AKA married couples need to keep conflicts off the comms.

 

The teleport was clumsy but it successfully landed them in front of Schafer and Amora’s path.

A sharp surge of pain following the teleport left Loki gasping for air.

“Loki,” Romanov said, alarmed, “Are you okay?”

He took a few deep breaths, willing his body to subdue the pain. He dropped the tablet into a dimensional hole and straightened up. “Yes. It’s nothing to worry about.”

In his ear, Tony was silent but Loki could _feel_ the worried glare. He finally said, “We’re talking about this when you get back.”

Loki huffed, “Must we?”

“Communication, Loki.”

Loki was tempted to roll his eyes, “I’m beginning to miss the time when you didn’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Then you must miss sleeping on the couch too.”

“Well, I suppose the temper tantrums did have a certain charm to them.” He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that Tony wasn’t going to forget that one.

Tony said too calmly, “Temper tantrums. That’s what we’re calling them.”

“Not that I don’t want to record this conversation and listen to it every night before I go to sleep,” Clint inserted urgently, “But we’re being shot at and I’m pretty sure that someone told Schafer that we’re here.”

Rogers added, “And I really would prefer to keep marriage conflicts off the comms.”

The sound of approaching footsteps distracted Loki from Tony’s response. He said quickly to the Widow, “The goal is find out what she intends steal and, if we can, secure it. You focus on the guards and Schafer.”

Amora and Schafer came into few seconds later, running while the guards shot at someone behind them. Amora’s eyes flashed with anger once she caught sight of Loki.

“You again, trickster?” She lifted her staff and Loki only had a second to exchange glanced with Romanov before she blasted them. Fortunately, Romanov knew exactly what she was to do. With the focus on Loki, she went to subdue the guards. Loki teleported to Amora’s side and wrapped an overly familiar arm around her waist. For centuries, a twisted, angry Loki was the closest thing she had to a friend. She didn’t know how raising a child had changed him. So, even if just for now, her Loki he shall be.

“Amora, dear,” Loki purred, casting a quick spell to block the sound of Romanov’s fighting. “I cannot help but be in your way. Odin has given his orders and I, as his loyal son, must obey. Your plans for Midgard do not please him.”

She glared at him but didn’t attack or jerk away. “I am proving my worthiness.”

“You’re angering our king,” he corrected. “However, I see merit in your plan now that I understand more of your methods. Acquiring the tesseract was an inspired move on your part. Tell me, how did you know it was on Midgard?”

Her eyes narrowed, blue flickering in her green eyes, “Why do you ask, trickster?”

“If objects of power strong enough to overpower Odin are simply laying around on primitive places such as Midgard, I would want to know.”

“The infinity stones belong to Thanos,” Amora answered but now she was thoughtful, “However, if it is Asgard you want, I’m sure he will allow you to strike a deal, as I have.”

Loki froze minutely, struggling to keep his expression mischievous instead of appalled. He heard Thor choke on the name. “I’m sure he will. What exactly are you here for? We can grab the pesky thing and go.”

Amora huffed, “It _has_ been quite an exhausting day. I am having this mortal lead me to the iridium.”

“For me as well,” Loki sighed, “Thor has been treating our stint in Midgard like Street Fighter IV.”  He could hear general confusion in the comms but thankfully, Tony picked up on the hint right away.

“Guys, the fight is about to start, get into position. Romanov, get the iridium.”

“Oh and Amora,” Loki said, drawing her attention, “You will not be getting the iridium.” With a blast of magic, he sent her flying through the wall, out of the facility. The burst of pain that bloomed in his arm was motivation enough to stand back and curse Odin while Thor and the Captain forged ahead. He only forced himself to his feet at the sound of Skurge’s roar.

If Amora had time to summon Skurge then she had time to go after the iridium.

“Tony?” he called.

Tony answered knowingly, “She’s on the stairs, on her way to the third floor.”

Loki decided to teleport, ignoring the tired ache of his body. He found Romanov on the stairs and grabbed her, teleporting them directly into the jet. Romanov didn’t waste a second handing off the iridium to Loki and starting the jet.

Loki’s breaths were coming in ragged huffs and his arms felt weak but he held onto the iridium with an iron grip. He hissed, “I hate Odin.”

Thor made a strange sound but didn’t say a word and Tony muttered a word of agreement, his voice comforting.

Romanov said through the comms, “We’re retreating for now. Jump in or get left behind, boys.” Romanov maneuvered the jet around Skurge, collecting their various teammates before taking off.

Amora discovered what had happened a second too late. She emerged from the building, even from afar, Loki could see the fury on her face. Amora’s hand glowed green, the sign of a spell or curse about to be cast. Loki grabbed the sword from Thor and leaned out the door of the jet. With a swing, he released the energy gather in the sword, sent it shooting like an arrow directly at her. He only saw her put up a shield before Thor yanked him back into the jet.

Loki let Thor practically carry him over to a chair and sit him down. He studied the braces around Loki’s wrists, face somber. “Brother, perhaps you shouldn’t battle with us if these put so much strain on your body.”

Loki almost laughed, “And leave you all to face to enchantress alone? Thor, I’m the only one her enchantments don’t effect and as long as I am here to break the enchantments, she won’t try it on any of you.”

Thor frowned and sat beside him, his face clouded with thoughts.

Barton blurted, “Did you seriously say Street Fighter IV?”

 

Their return to the helicarrier was met with an extra furious Fury and a far more sympathetic Tony Stark. Loki handed off the iridium to Agent Coulson, deliberately ignoring whatever Fury was screeching, and fell into the arms of his pseudo-husband. He should just ask the man to marry him. This mental hesitation to call Tony his husband was utterly ridiculous.

“You okay, babe?” Tony murmured in his ear.

Loki sighed, “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Oh, good.” A silence. “So, when are we going to talk about my temper tantrums?”

Loki stiffened immediately. He pulled back to look at Tony, hurriedly explaining, “Darling, you know I-” He was cut off by Tony’s playful grin. “You were joking.”

“Not that I wasn’t pissed, but, you know, perspective.” Tony pressed a kiss to his lips, “I’m just happy to see you.”

“Stark, I swear, if you don’t get in that conference room,” Fury didn’t finish the threat but the vein on his head was pulsing and looked about ready to explode.

“Alright, alright,” Tony went easily, if only to prevent Fury’s death, and Loki followed after.  

Once they were all seated, Fury asked Loki and Thor. “Who is this Thanos?”

Romanov’s eyebrows lifted, “You were listening to the comms?”

Fury exhaled out his nose like an angry bull and looked at Tony.

Tony laughed, a bit sheepishly, and shrugged, “Yeah, he was just muted. I didn’t want to confuse you guys with the whole, ‘who do I listen to?’ thing.”

Barton snorted loudly before he could a lid on it and snickered into his hand.

Romanov said, unimpressed, “So you just had us listen to you?”

Tony shrugged again, “Worked out, didn’t it?”

“No,” Fury contradicted loudly, “Amora is still at large and Loki is keeping information from the team.”

Loki rolled his eyes but admitted grudgingly, “Odin restricted my magic through these braces. I can still use it, as you can see, but it causes me pain. I may have overestimated my tolerance for pain. The amount of seidr I can access isn’t enough to defeat her.”

“Then we talk to Odin,” Romanov said simply, “Like you told Thor, we can’t battle Amora without you. There’s too much that we don’t know about her abilities and magic in general.”

Thor said, “I will try to call Heimdall but I cannot guarantee even he will be willing to listen.”

Loki quirked an eyebrow at him, “Why wouldn’t he if it’s the beloved prince asking?”

Thor pursed his lips and nodded, silently standing to his feet and walking out the room to the landing strip. He bellowed to the sky, “Heimdall.”

The Avengers stood around while Thor called for Heimdall. Loki became more and more confused as he watched nothing happen. For Heimdall to not listen to Thor, the same Heimdall that allowed Thor to prance into the middle of Jotunnheim, something must have been wrong.

Loki grabbed Thor’s shoulder to quiet him and stared at the sky, still clear and sunny. No sign of the Bifrost.

He met Thor’s eyes and assured him quietly, “We’ll find another way.”

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mori rolled on her bed as she listened to the Avengers plan. Peter was at her desk, playing one of her games. She sat up and sighed. “Jarvis, I don’t think I need to hear any more.”

The audio cut off immediately and Jarvis asked, concerned, “Is everything okay?”

“Well, no,” she said, “It’s not. You heard Loki. Odin restricted his magic. I remember him talking about Amora. She’s almost as powerful as he is.”

“Okay,” Peter closed her laptop and rolled over to her, “So we definitely shouldn’t go after her ourselves. That’s firmly in the horrendous idea territory.”

Jarvis added dryly, “Yes, you’ve been doing so well skirting the line.”

 “I actually agree with both of you on this,” Mori said, “My idea isn’t that horrendous.”

Jarvis said, “I’m still concerned.”

Peter nodded but looked intrigued, “What are you thinking?”

“Well,” Mori hedged, “Why don’t _I_ go convince Odin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm updating this soon. How long has it been, a week? Nice going me. I have to admit, I don't think I'm very good at writing action scenes. I don't read enough and when I do, it's not with the dissecting writer brain. It's more like the boom, pow, so kewl brain. Which is a thing. 
> 
> I love it when Tony makes Fury want to explode. Like, it warms my heart. 
> 
> Next chapter will be out soon? (I hope, I hope, I hope) **Update:** New chapter DEFINITELY be out soon. I'm thinking Saturday...


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mori's on a mission.

 Peter stared at her for an incredulous minute. Then huffed out a breathless laugh, “Of course, that’s your idea.”

“It sounds crazy,” Mori admitted.

Peter nodded, “Definitely. It’s insane.”

“But Loki told me all about Asgard. I spent years listening to stories.”

“And getting there?”

“Peter,” Mori found the question funny. It was a good question, she knew, but riddled with more doubt than she could understand. “I can teleport there. Loki has taken me to his room in Asgard before. I know the science of it. It’s just… difficult. But I can do it.”

Peter stared at her for a minute. Then deferred to Jarvis. “Do you think she can do it?”

“I am programmed to believe that Miss can do anything she puts her mind to,” Jarvis answered hesitantly. “According to my records, Miss does have a proficiency with magic that tends to supersede what she is allowed to do. However, I must admit to having doubts when it comes to convincing Odin of anything.”

“Not even convinced that he needs to clean up this mess his Asgardians are making,” Mori challenged. “Why not try?”

“Because he’s an asshole?” Peter answered.

Mori rolled her eyes, “Other than that. Even if Odin won’t, Frigga might listen. Someone needs to do something.”

“Your father and the Avengers are working to break the braces,” Jarvis told her. “There is a chance that they might succeed.”

“And there’s a chance that Amora might get her hands on the iridium and finish the gate before that happens,” Mori returned. “I think we can afford to take some risk here.”

Her friends had nothing to say about that.

“Exactly.” Mori stood, “Let’s go in the training room. It’ll be easier there.”

“Miss,” Jarvis stopped her, “I’ve heard many of Mr. Odinson’s stories as well. We can hardly assume that they will be reasonable.”

“I know, Jarvis,” Mori said, “But lives are on the line and not just dad’s. How can you expect me to just sit here?”

Jarvis answered after a small pause, “I don’t.”

Mori accepted that for the ‘go-ahead’ it was and went into the training room. She let Loki’s gift slid smoothly into a cloak and adjusted her glasses nervously. A few daggers were on the wall, hung in their sheaths. Mori felt like she was in a video game as she equipped them. She glanced back at Peter and said, “So I’m going.”

“You are going,” he confirmed, smiling nervously.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

“Bye, Jarvis.”

“Be safe, Miss.”

“I will,” she nodded to herself and reached for Yggdrasril, the connection between realms. She felt power gathering around her. But it took more. She reached farther. Seidr that hugged her like a father gave way to something older and much colder. She suppressed a shiver as she latched on and took a step into Asgard.

She fell to her knees, gasping for air. The part of magic over-exertion she hated most was the cold sweat the dotted her brow and the lingering bit of terror, like Death had just popped in to say hello.

When her heart finally calmed some, she glanced around. The room _felt_ like Loki. Stacks of book were everywhere, appearing random but probably organized by subject and usefulness. The room was lit by candles that never went out and dark green curtains kept out any hint of sun. A wooden chest was at the foot of his bed, the images of a wolf carved into the oak.

And the magic. Again, she could feel the seidr like a father wrapping tight around her but the older, cold seidr was there as well. 

Mori sat on Loki’s bed while she gathered herself.

Once she was oriented, she stood and left.

The halls of Asgard were as grandiose as Loki had said, all gold and pomp. Mori didn’t have to walk far before she saw a guard. She took a deep breath and marched towards him. “You, guard,” she shouted, “I come seeking the All-Father.”

The guard was automatically on the defensive, pointing the spear at her and glowering from behind a huge beard-mustache combo. “How did you get in here?”

Mori knew she meant to do that but it was a bit scarier than she expected, having a huge, shiny spear pointed at her. “I come with a message from the princes. I need to see the All-Father right away.”

The guard sneered, “The princes are in exile.”

Mori furrowed her eyebrows at him. “Yeah, uh, yes. Exactly. Which is why I’m bringing this message.” She thought that was pretty clear.

“Why have they sent a mere girl?”

Mori had to bite back her first ten retorts. “All warriors on Midgard are battling a threat to our planet. I need to talk to the All-Father.”

“I see,” the guard finally lowered his spear but an ugly smirk made it onto his ugly face. “What would you do to see the All-Father?”

Mori never had a very high tolerance for useless bullshit. It comes with having two very goal-oriented parents. Also, her temper was never very good. She didn’t feel explosive anger but a deeper, more venomous anger that was probably Loki’s influence. This guard triggered that anger with his slimey grin so she took the dagger out of the sheath and darted forward, sinking it into his stomach, below a rib, right into flesh then pulled it out and darted away.

A memory of her telling Loki that she didn’t want to stab his clone came to mind. His reply, “You may have to stab someone someday,” wasn't all that convincing. Turns out, it's a useful skill to have.

Once the guard shook off his shock, he roared, “There’s an intruder. Get her.”

She found herself swerving and dodging guard after guard. She was small and faster than they were and their wide attacks always left nooks and crannies for her to slip through. Then she looked ahead and saw a blockade of guards, all in front on one woman. Queen Frigga.

Mori felt herself slow as she realized the Queen was holding Gungnir.

A hand suddenly grabbed her arms and another meaty hand wrapped around her mouth. A guard said proudly, “Worry not, my queen. We have the intruder subdued.”

Mori rolled her eyes and set her arms on fire, enjoying the pained yelp as the guard let her arms go then she grabbed the hand over her mouth and froze it.

That wasn’t enough to keep the other guards from attacking her, other guards from grabbing her, trying to subdue her.

“STOP.” The air stilled. She could hear the guards choking and gasping for air while she caught her breath.

When she looked up at Queen Frigga, she was shocked to see tears in the corner of her eyes. The queenly manner had slipped away completely, leaving a tired old woman who was seeing her granddaughter for the first time.

Mori released the grip she had on the air, probably just in time to prevent casualties, and straightened. “Queen Frigga, I need to talk to you.”

  The Queen slipped back into her dignified poise like it was an old jacket. Her back straightened, all emotion left her eyes and the unhappy quirk of her mouth flattened out. “You will be heard out in the throne room, then sent back to Midgard.”

Mori followed her, eyes darting from place to place as the guards fell into formation around the two of them.

The throne room was even more grandiose than the halls, taller than her house and with a throne made of silent throne and seasoned with tasteless grandeur.

Queen Frigga seated herself on her throne and looked at Mori blankly. It took Mori a second to realize that Frigga, Loki’s beloved mother, wasn’t even going to give her a hint as to what to say or do.

Fine. She didn’t need help anyway.

Loki never taught her the bow of an Asgardian maiden but he showed her the kneel of a warrior. And no matter what Asgard thought, she was a warrior.

She kept her head bowed and waited.

Queen Frigga said, “You may speak.”

Mori lifted her head right away and said, “Midgard needs the Asgardians princes to be returned to their former strength.”

Queen Frigga shook her head, “I cannot do that. My husband’s punishment still stands.”

“Yes,” her voice was curious although she already knew the answer, “Where is the All-Father?”

Something flickered in the Queen’s eyes, like she knew exactly why Mori asked, “He has fallen into Odinsleep.”

“I see.” Her eyes flickered to the Asgardians around her. “That is unfortunate. Since only Odin can reverse their punishment, why not send more Asgardians with me? To battle the Asgardians threatening our planet. Midgard simply doesn’t have the power to deal with Amora and Skurge.”

Queen Frigga’s mouth grew tight with displeasure. They could both hear the scoffs and angry muttering that started. As if any of these Asgardians would bother helping.

“Your princes are risking their lives for a cause your people scoff at,” Mori observed out loud. “What is your view on the matter, All-Mother?”

Mori could tell that stung since Queen Frigga snapped, “Do not call me that.”

“I apologize,” Mori quickly hung her head, though, mostly to hide a victorious smirk. “I meant it as a term of respect. You are on the throne, bearing the All-Father’s burden. Taking care of his people. With no one here to share the power, not even your sons, you face a difficult task.”

Her voice was like ice as she said, “What exactly do you want?”

Mori looked her in the eye and said firmly, “I want to fight for the people who fight for me.”

Queen Frigga’s eyes narrow, “And you decided to fight me.”

“Honestly, I came to fight the All-Father,” Mori returned, “However, you, my Queen, deserve comfort. It must be hard to sit on the throne without even the hope of your sons returning to Asgard.”

“My sons will return.”

Mori hummed thoughtfully, “Thor might.”

Queen Frigga stood, quiet fury in her eyes but she said quietly, “Escort this young woman to the Bifrost and have Heimdall return her home.”

“No need,” Mori waved the guards away. “It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Queen Frigga.”

Mori teleported away.

 

Peter sat cross-legged in the same spot that he was in when she left. He surged to his feet when he saw her. “How did it go?”

“Teleporting is a lot easier when I’m there,” Mori noted before answering Peter distractedly, “It could have been worse.”

“Miss?” Jarvis prompted gently.

Mori sighed and shrugged, “Well, Odin is in Odinsleep so I talked to Frigga. She sort of said no. Then I made her angry so it might be a definite no but I’m not in Asgard prison so it could have been a reluctant yes.”

Peter said succinctly, “Shit.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Mori agreed with a frown. She elaborated further, “If she does give Thor and Loki their powers back, she’ll be challenging Odin’s ability to rule. I kind of implied that he was a shitty ruler anyway but that wasn’t really appreciated.”

“Well, while we wait to see the result of your efforts, would you like dinner?” Jarvis asked.

“Yeah,” Mori’s shoulders slumped from exhaustion and frustration. “Just order whatever. I’m going to take a shower.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first time Mori's getting a chapter really centered around her. Which is interesting. So, now that you know a bit more about Mori, tell me what you think about her. She's an OC that had actually inspired an original story (so originally a Marvel fanfic baby but has a story completely separate from everything Marvel).
> 
> Next Chapter: what to do about Amora (aka Captain America v Tony Stark, Do you want a blueberry?)

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments, make me happy with kudos and come hang out at [ tumblr](http://ace-diaries.tumblr.com/)


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